Kewaunee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,563. Its county seat is Kewaunee. The county was created in 1852 and organized in 1859. Its Menominee name is Kewāneh, an archaic name for a species of duck. Kewaunee County is part of the Green Bay, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Green Bay-Shawano, WI Combined Statistical Area. Uniquely in Wisconsin, the county is considered both a high-farming concentration county and a high-manufacturing county by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, meaning at least 20 percent of its earnings came from agriculture and at least 25 percent came from manufacturing.
Fishing and boating In 2018, Kewaunee County ranked first in the state in the Chinook salmon harvest, with 26,557 fish caught, with nearby Door County ranking second at 14,268 fish caught.Kewaunee/Door Peninsula Again Top in Chinook Harvest by Kevin Naze, Peninsula Pulse, May 1, 2019 Chinook salmon are sought after by tourists enjoying chartered fishing trips.It’s No Fish Tale… Charter Boat Captain Is Living His Dream by Joel Waldinger, November 5, 2015, Wisconsin Life, PBS
The state record rainbow trout was set in 1997 at 27 pounds, 2 ounces and 42.5 inches long. It came from the Kewaunee County portion of Lake Michigan. In 1999 the state record pink salmon was also caught in Lake Michigan out of Kewaunee County waters. It was 6 pounds, 1.9 ounces and was 24.0 inches long. In 2005, the state record white perch was taken out of the Kewaunee County portion of Green Bay. It weighed 1 pound, 5.4 ounces and was 13.5 inches long.Wisconsin Record Fish List, September 2018, Wisconsin DNR (The records are current as of September 2018.)
Beginning in 1964, first coho and then chinook salmon were stocked in Lake Michigan.The Salmon Experiment: The invention of a Lake Michigan sport fishery, and what has happened since, Updated January 21, 2019; Posted April 18, 2011, By Howard Meyerson, The Grand Rapids Press New salmon and trout fingerling stocking in the spring and egg and milt collection from late September to early November takes place at the C.D. "Buzz" Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility. The facility is a public attraction.
In recent years there has been concern that the alewife population will not support the salmon population,Red flags signal possible trouble for Lake Michigan salmon where chinooks are king, by Howard Meyerson, The Grand Rapids Press, Updated January 21, 2019; Posted April 17, 2011 especially as the Chinook population has already collapsed in Lake Huron.Charter Captain Meeting March 12, 2015, see pages 56-57, Archived November 1, 2019, also see Lake Huron’s Chinook salmon fishery unlikely to recover due to ongoing food shortage by Jim Erickson, March 14, 2016 A 2016 survey of Wisconsin anglers found they would on average pay $140 for a trip to catch Chinook salmon, $90 for lake trout, and $180 for walleye.Wisconsin Sea Grant documents value of recreational fishing in Lake Michigan by Aaron R. Conklin, Wisconsin Sea Grant, July 10, 2017 Should the Chinook salmon fishery be replaced with a native lake trout fishery, the economic value would decrease by 80%.Can Native Species Compete with Valuable Exotics? Measuring Willingness to Pay for Recreational Fishing in Lake Michigan by Raynor, Jennifer and Phaneuf, Daniel, Presentation for the 2018 International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade
A 1995 study found the greatest abundance of spawning lake trout in Lake Michigan was on the Clay Banks Reef off of Door and Kewaunee counties.Edsall, T. A., M. E. Holey, B. A. Manny and G. W. Kennedy 1995 An Evaluation of Lake Trout Reproductive Habitat on Clay Banks Reef, Northwestern Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 21 (Supplement 1):418-432
The sucker run, which was a popular fishing event in the 19th century, occurs in March and April.Atlas of the Spawning and Nursery Areas of Great Lakes Fishes, Volume IV Goodyear C. D., T. Edsall D. M. Ormsby Dempsey G 0 Moss and P. E. Polanski 1982 Fish and wildlife Service FNS/0BS-82/52, p. 155, 164 of the pdf Suckers may be taken by frame dip nets,Spearing, Netting, and Bait Harvest Regulations 2019-2020, Wisconsin DNR, page 12 and the sucker run is also sought out as viewing opportunity.Fish Watching in Wisconsin, EEK Wisconsin website, Accessed January 17, 2020 The smelt run also attracts fishermen.2019 Smelt Run Brings Back Memories of ‘Good Old Days’ by Kevin Naze, Peninsula Pulse, April 26, 2019
The state recognizes 11 public boat access sites.Wisconsin DNR interactive boating map: Kewaunee County There are 14 inland lakes or ponds in Kewaunee County. In 2012, there were 2,252 registered boats in the county.2012 Wisconsin Boating Program Report, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Law Enforcement Pub-LE-314-2012 Algoma Light and Kewaunee Pierhead Light are active navigational aids for boaters. The Daniel Lyons shipwreck near Algoma is used as a dive site, but the America near Carlton is less visited by divers due to its remote location.America Shipwreck (Canaller), National Register of Historic Places Program, National Park Service, Accessed January 18, 2020 There are 24 other known shipwrecks in county waters.Maritime trail markers for Kewaunee County listed by the Maritime Preservation Program of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Accessed January 18, 2020 The Tug Ludington in Kewaunee is operated as a museum boat.
Parks and other lands open to the public The county operates eight parks. The Dana Farm (childhood home of Ransom Asa Moore) was relocated to the Winter Park. Along with the Bruemmer Park and Zoo, it is located near the state-owned C.D. Buzz Besadny Fish Hatchery.Parks and trails visitkewauneecounty.com, Accessed January 18, 2020 Two other state-owned parks are Mashek Creek Public AccessMashek Creek Public Access, Wisconsin DNR, August 17, 2017 and the Brusky Wildlife Area.Brusky Wildlife Area, Wisconsin DNR, January 11, 2017 There are also 27 municipal parks operated by the cities of Algoma, Kewaunee, and the Village of Luxembourg.Directory, visitkewauneecounty.com, accessed January 18, 2020
There are four public beaches in the county, three of which are routinely monitored for water quality advisories.Wisconsin Beach Advisories on the Wisconsin Beach Health website; counties are in the dropdown menu The countyRed River Park, visitkewauneecounty.com, Accessed January 18, 2020 and the city of AlgomaCrescent Beach and Boardwalk, travelwisconsin.com, Accessed January 18, 2020 each operate one beach. Kewaunee operates two beaches,City of Kewaunee Park Facilities , Parks Department, Accessed January 18, 2020 There are boardwalks along the beach in Algoma and the Kewaunee Marshland Walk. Altogether there are ten public access sites to Lake Michigan and Green Bay in the county.Public Access to Lake Michigan by the Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission, July 2011, Chapter 1: Public Access Inventory, pages 7 and pages 35–41 (pages 14 and pages 41–44 of the pdf)
Limestone kiln remnants of historical interest are open to the public at the Bruemmer Park and Zoo. Although lime is not presently produced in Kewaunee County, as of 2016, there were 9 active gravel pits producing sand and gravel for roadwork and construction use.Pit locations spreadsheet, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, January 21, 2016
of privately owned land is open to the public for hunting, fishing, hiking, sight-seeing and cross-country skiing under the Managed Forest Program.Lands enrolled in the tax program are shown on the DNR Private Forest Lands Open for Public Recreation interactive map and Managed Forest Law 2019 Acreage Summary Report by Municipality by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, February 25, 2019, page 34
Species lists and coastal wetlands The four state recognized coastal wetlands in the county are the Kewaunee River Wetland Complex, the Black Ash Swamp Area, the Ahnapee River Wetlands, and the Duvall Swamp.A Data Compilation and Assessment of Coastal Wetlands of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes, 2002 A 1980 inventory of natural areas recognized Duvall Swamp, Alaska Bog, Krok Woods, Kewaunee River Marshes, Cosco Tamarack Woods, Broemmer Creek Headwaters, Alaska Lake, Three Mile Creek Tag Alder, Silver Lake, Krohn's Lake, and the Ahnapee River Swamps.Natural area inventory: Wisconsin Great Lakes coast by W. Tans and R. Dawson, 1980, Office of Coastal Management, Wisconsin DNR, 1980, pages 13-13 (pages 16-17 of the pdf) Historically, hypnum peat was produced in the county.Minerals Yearbook, Volume 2, United States. Bureau of Mines, 1989, page 519The Peat Resources of Wisconsin by Frederick William Huels, Bulletin of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, Issue 45, 1915
Plants In 2016, 586 plant species were listed in a checklist for the county that excluded mosses, liverworts, and hornworts.Kewaunee County 2016, WisFlora, UW-Madison In 2020, 33 species of mosses, liverworts, and hornworts and 125 species of macrofungi (including lichens) were listed for the county. In 1999, 8 aquatic species were found in East Alaska Lake.Lake Management Plan for East Alaska Lake, page 31, Table 3-4: Aquatic Vegetation of East Alaska Lake and Relative Abundance at the Lake and State Level by the Ecological Services Division of Robert E. Lee and Associates, Inc.
Snails From 1996 to 2001, researchers listed 48 species of snails in Kewaunee County, ranking eighth out of the 22 counties in the study. Nearby Door and Brown counties ranked first and second with 69 and 62 species respectively. However, they only sampled 13 areas in Kewaunee County, compared to 74 areas in Door and 28 areas in Brown. Slugs were found in all three counties.Terrestrial gastropod fauna of Northeastern Wisconsin and the Southern Upper Peninsula of Michigan , Jeffrey C. Nekola, 2003, American Malacological Bulletin 18(1-2)
Birds As of 2020, 103 species of birds have been confirmed to breed in Kewaunee County. and
In 1911, passenger pigeons were seen in the Black Ash Swamp. This was one of the last reported sightings in the state.A.W. Schorger notes, page 330 to page 632, last page of the pdf (pdf page 303) and index to Schorger's notes: Wisconsin by Stanley Temple, 2014, Passenger Pigeon Project website, Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, page 85
Cattle and deer In 2018 statistics, a county total of 3,527 deer were killed as a total of all deer hunting seasons, down from the total harvest of 3,787 deer for 2017 statistics.WI DNR Harvest Trends database, accessed September 5, 2019 In 2017, Kewaunee and Door counties were reported to have equal deer-to-human ratios. Kewaunee County had the third highest cow-to-human ratio in the state, with only Lafayette and Buffalo counties having higher ratios.Where Cows and Deer Outnumber People In Wisconsin A Badger State Approach to Rural Identity, Malia Jones, UW Applied Population Lab, November 17, 2017, Accessed December 12, 2019 In 2018, there were an estimated 97,000 head of cattle in the county, more than Door County which had 23,500 head of cattle.All cattle and calves in Wisconsin as of January 1, 2017-2018, by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Foods, agritourism, and alcohol