EXPLORING WISCONSIN'S WATERWAYS: THE Fox- WISCONSIN


ment of Natural Resources to seal off the lock at Wrightstown and to modify
the dam.
  The plot thickens further. In 1985 Congressman Robert Kastenmeier in-
troduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to establish the Fox-
Wisconsin Heritage Corridor Commission to "study methods to protect
and
preserve the Portage Canal-Fox River Corridor". At Portage, local govern-
ment and preservation groups have joined forces to restore the canal, making
it the centerpiece for city revitalization. At Appleton, the Friends of the
Fox
are organized to fight for the river. In 1988 the governor of Wisconsin re-
fused to accept state responsibility for lock and dam maintenance and opera-
tion. The Fox River is a very live issue. So is the current plan, long on
the
drawing board, to create a lower Wisconsin Scenic Riverway.
   As Reuben Gold Thwaites noted a century ago, the Fox-Wisconsin water-
way falls into very distinctive segments, each with a dominant character
in
contrast with the others. The first, the lower Fox from Green Bay to Neenah-
Menasha, has a strongly urban-industrial economic component. So does the
Lake Winnebago west shore of "the pool", a designation for the
segment of
the Fox that flows through Lakes Winnebago and Butte des Morts. The
upper Fox meanders through a predominantly agricultural region varied in
character. Much of it has excellent soil, but there are some parts of the
central plains where sandy soils tend to be less suitable for agricultural
pur-
poses. Municipalities in this area like Omro, Berlin, Princeton, and Montello
basically cater to the needs of the surrounding farming areas as trade and
service centers. The lower Wisconsin segment from Portage to the Missis-
sippi is, in general, much more lightly populated compared to the Fox. Be-
ginning at Sauk City, the river valley assumes a scenic character with a
few
towns or villages, all of them set well back from the river - a paradise
for


ground. (UNR 20917)


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