Outdoor lands will most likely shrink
Most
of us living today won't be around to celebrate it, but there will be a
tricentennial. In the year 2076, Americans will no doubt talk and write and
participate in activities as we now are doing.
What
will it be like?
No one knows, and therefore
any guesses we make can be derided as improbable, but not as impossible.
Anything can happen, but as we look back on 200 years and try to peer ahead we
can come up with some educated guesses. This is what it might be like:
It
is certain there is going to be a decrease in all kinds of outdoor habitat in
100 years. Pressures of growing crops for hungry humans will mean most
agricultural land, even that considered marginal, will be in crops. Perhaps as
much as 20 percent of our present forests and marshlands will be lost to
cultivation.
Less land, more use
Along
with decreased land for outdoor activity will be an increase in those who want
to use the land. More campers, fisherman, hikers, hunters, swimmers, water
skiers and bird watchers.
Somewhere in the
next 100 years we will reach the saturation point. There will be too many
people wanting to use the same land at the same time. In the year 2076, if you
want to go camping, you will:
Apply for a
camp site at a specific park for a specific period of time not to exceed one
week. Applications must be made at least six months in advance, accompanied by
a modest fee of $25 a night not refundable if you don't show.
Camp sites will have hot and cold running water and Tri-D cable and be free of
mosquitoes and other insects.
Each will have
its won sanitary disposal. Some will be equipped with solar grills and
imitation electric fireplaces.
Fishing will be considerably more expensive
than today. An overall $20 conservation license will be needed to use the
outdoors for any reason. Then there will be a regular fishing license, a trout
stamp and a muskie stamp with one tag for the season limit for that fish.
There will be special stamps for salmon, bass and lake trout. There will be
stamps for some waters such as Lake Superior or Lake Michigan. For the average
person who fishes as we do today for a variety of species on a variety of lakes,
the fee may be as high as $100.
As with
camping, many lakes and streams will be fished only with reservations. Owners
of most private streams and lakes will charge a fee for fishing.
Hunting will be very restricted. Licenses will be expensive and except for
rabbits and squirrels, most hunting will be by application and drawing lots.
Duck hunting will have been eliminated for 50 years.
Once in a lifetime
Most
hunters can apply for permits to hunt such animals as elk, moose or bear, but
the chances of getting a permit will be small. If one does get a permit and
kills an elk, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime affair. One elk per person for a
lifetime.
There will still be many kinds of
hunting in Wisconsin. Deer, quail, ruffed grouse will still be available, but
hunting will be by reservation only to keep hunter numbers under control.
The
deer kill will be about 40,000 animals a year, and one can expect to get a
chance to hunt about once every five years. Hunters will be limited to 400,000
spread over a 20-day period. If you are lucky and make a kill, a $200 trophy
tag must be attached at the checking station.
There
will be no pheasant hunting, the state will have abandoned its put and take
approach, but a new strain of winter-hardy quail will have been developed and
most of southern and central Wisconsin will have them in modest numbers. Most
of this hunting will be on private farms where a daily fee will be charged or
season hunting rights purchased by a group of hunters with well-stocked
billfolds.
Reservations needed
Hikers
and bird watchers will start out by buying the basic $20 conservation license.
Some areas will be open with no restrictions, but more popular areas will
require reservations. There will be few places where people are not restricted
to trails.
Snowmobiling will be a sport for
those who enjoy luxury. Machines will be enclosed with plastic bubbles so one
can drive around in shirt sleeves. Reasonably-priced sleds will cost $15,000
and most models will be about double that. Licensing will be $100 a year.
Snow-shoeing
will be a lost art and most snowshoes will be in museums. However,
cross-country skiing will be moderately popular with those who want to "rough
it." There will be chalets every two miles along the trail, but they will
be modest and only serve light lunches and liquors.
There
will be a great change in outdoor equipment. Lightweight clothing which is warm
in winter, cool in summer and rainproof will be available. Insect repellent
will only be necessary for those who go into the "back country", and
these people need only to take a small pill every day to keep bug-free.
Water
skiing will be limited to certain waters at certain times and on more popular
lakes it will be necessary to reserve a time.
Better, cleaner air
Surprisingly,
water and air quality will be generally better than today. Most air pollution
will be eliminated or neutralized and the only water pollution will be
nutrients, leached from the soil, such as nitrates and phosphates. Ways will be
found to control their harmful effects and algae blooms will be a rarity even in
older, shallow lakes.
People will read books
printed 100 years earlier and talk of the late 20th century when there was room
for everyone and a fishing license cost less than $5. And just imagine, you
could go to Yellowstone Park and drive all around in a car anytime you wanted.
And some things may not change. It may still
be possible 100 years from now to walk quietly through Putnam Park in Eau
Claire, to see the wild flowers covering the ground in spring and note deer
tracts in wet ground by the skunk cabbage. The pileated woodpecker may still
roll the drum from a hollow tree and Minnie Creek may still flow small and
clear.
--Jim Fisher
Extracted from the Eau
Claire Leader Telegram
Special Publication, Our Story 'The Chippewa
Valley and Beyond', published 1976
Used with permission.
