DNR to give Walker donors lakefront property in land swap

Couple donated $3 million to two federal
committees that helped Walker’s presidential bid

MADISON, Wis. — The state Department of Natural Resources plans to give one of Gov. Scott Walker’s key donors a lakefront parcel in a land swap. 

The agency had planned to sell Elizabeth Uihlein 1.75 acres along Rest Lake in Manitowish Waters last September for $275,000. 

Uihlein and her husband donated nearly $3 million to two federal committees that helped Walker’s presidential bid last year, sparking complaints of favoritism. 

A DNR memo at that time showed the land appraised in February, 2015, at $384,000. That June, it was appraised much lower at $238,000.

That sparked a letter from Democratic State Sen. Robert Wirch, questioning why the sale price was $100,000 lower than the appraisal.

 

The DNR’s board decided to postpone the transaction. 

The land the Uihleins want would create lake access to their adjacent condominium complex.

Now, the agency says the Uihleins are working buy 42.7 private acres within the Northland Highland State Forest boundaries.

DNR officials say the couple plans to give the DNR that land in exchange for the Rest Lake parcel.

What those 42.7 acres is worth was unknown. The DNR has also been selling off thousands of acres of state land, so it’s curious whether swapping for more land is in its best interest, either.

Back September when this first was proposed, Jim Zorn, executive director of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife commission, which oversees Chippewa tribes’ off-reservation treaty rights in northern Wisconsin’s ceded territory, opposed the deal. He wrote in an email that Rest Lake lies in Vilas County, which is part of the ceded territory. 

He said the sale would deprive wildlife enthusiasts of access to public resources and that the DNR had not consulted with the tribes on the sale.

No word on if the DNR has consulted the tribes on a land swap, either.

The board will consider the deal Aug. 3.