II. Project Area Description

Unlike many AIS Grant projects that involve just one lake, the Barnes EWM Project includes a 4township area and involves 27 lakes, and are located in 3 Towns, in two counties, Bayfield and Douglas. The Town of Barnes, in southwestern Bayfield County, is where the vast majority of the project occurred.

All of the 27 lakes (there are several more in the immediate area that were not included) are found within the St. Croix River watershed and in fact the Eau Claire Lakes Chain of Lakes is at the upper headwaters of the Eau Claire River, a major tributary of the Upper St. Croix River.

The lakes chosen for the project total 4500 acres (7 square miles) with a total of 70 miles of shoreline. Eleven of the lakes are drainage lakes or headwaters lakes of the Eau Claire Chain. The other sixteen are smaller seepage lakes located along the edge of the Bayfield Sand Plain.

The project area is a recreational area closely tied to the 30-plus lakes in the immediate area. Over 1200 lake homes and cabins dot the shoreline and offer seasonal and year-round lake living opportunities. The permanent residents only comprise about 680 people, but that population has been growing in recent years and is expected to continue to grow.

In addition to landowners, the lakes receive extensive use by recreationists and fishermen who utilize the fourteen public boat landings to access these public waters.