| BASELINE | 1: ANAHEIM NORTH | 2: WALLEYE COMMONS | 3: NORTHWOODS QUILT | 4: REFUGEE REVOLUTION |

Anaheim North

Scenario Images: Immediate right: NHLD landscape showing four representative lakes. Far right: Cutaway views of the four lakes.

Rapid development has transformed the NHLD. Increased tourism has brought more people to the region.

The role of government in resource management has decreased. Invasive species are abundant in many of the lakes. Water quality has degraded to varied degrees throughout the region.

Some isolated lakes still provide opportunities for quality fishing and hunting, although people find that their opportunities are more limited.

In the search for lakefront property, new residents build large homes on more remote lakes that were previously less accessible.

The Lac du Flambeau nation is experiencing rapid economic growth from casino revenues, while tribal management tries to maintain the natural resources on the reservation.

Larger lakes that are lower on the landscape experience most of the building development. Waterparks and resorts are common. Economic growth brings large international retail chains into the region.

The expanded four-lane highway to Minocqua brought more tourists and more part-time and full-time residents to the NHLD. Increased population led to more tensions among competing uses for finite area of land and lakes from 2007 to 2012. Conflicts ranged over access to areas for quiet versus motorized recreation to debates about shoreland management practices. The tensions led to more rules and regulations, which in some cases made things worse. At the same time, the land and lakes were changing. The presence of chronic wasting disease in deer in the north forced the shooting of large numbers of this former game animal in an effort to control the epidemic. Invading species, such as highly toxic cyanobacteria and rainbow smelt, caused problems with water quality and fisheries. WDNR, facing budget cuts and an increasingly hostile public, lacked the fiscal resources and political credibility to develop innovative solutions for the growing natural resource problems in the NHLD.

In 2012, Rhinelander Airport was expanded to handle jumbo jets, and the new four-lane highway from Rhinelander to Minocqua opened in 2014. The addition of tourists and residents in the region led to increased building and turnover of landowners. Water parks, theme parks and associated strip malls had slowly become more common in the NHLD since about 2000, attracted by tax breaks provided by local government and the large number of visitors. Minocqua was the main focus of the building pressure, as large chains such as Home Depot and WalMart realized that they not only had access through the four-lane highway, but also a ready-made broad customer base. In 2017 a large theme park, Loon World, opened in Minocqua with nearly 500 new minimum-wage jobs. Municipalities struggled to provide services such as police and fire protection, roads, water and sewage treatment needed by an expanded recreational industry. The annual debate about raising property taxes was more acrimonious every year. Meanwhile, changes were taking place on the Lac du Flambeau reservation. The increasing tourism in the area offered an opportunity for the tribe to expand their casino into a larger gaming complex. At the same time, the tribe attempted to minimize environmental impacts of the increased numbers of visitors, and to maintain traditional uses of the land and lakes.

The numbers of tourists varied from year to year, depending on oil prices, the national and regional economy, and attitudes about safety and terrorism in international travel. In this turbulent business environment, some of the smaller recreational establishments failed but larger tourist attractions such as Loon World and the Lac du Flambeau Casino survived. Locally-owned businesses became less common as the national and international chains took over traditional niches in food, pharmaceuticals and hardware.

By 2027, the area was transformed. The population was almost double what it had been in 2000. The economy was larger than in 2002, and so was the size of businesses and the role of corporations based outside the NHLD. More jobs were available, especially minimum wage seasonal jobs. Much of the profit from tourism flowed out of the NHLD, while the tax burden stayed behind. As tax breaks for Loon World and similar businesses expired, the counties’ budget situations improved but demand for social services largely offset those gains. The gap between rich and poor grew from 2002 – 2027. Urban sprawl was notable around Eagle River, Rhinelander, and Minocqua. Air, water, light and noise pollution were increasingly common problems. The level of trust and cooperation among people in the region declined to resemble that of other urban regions of the U.S., due to failing communication between groups.

Elements of the old Northwoods environment could still be found in small towns far from the major highways, and on the Lac du Flambeau reservation. Fish and game on public lakes and lands deteriorated after 2002 as WDNR’s ability to protect the resource weakened. Some wilderness areas accessible only by hiking or canoe still offered abundant fish and wildlife. Large private reserves provided quality fishing and hunting experiences to those who could afford it. Lac du Flambeau sold restricted access fishing as part of its casino complex. Conflicts between the tribes and the state over fish and wildlife were more frequent. Most local residents found their opportunities for fishing, hunting and enjoying the outdoors were more limited, and for many visitors the private recreation parks had replaced outdoor recreation.