Bucky the Lucky Badger says "Who's the ad whiz that came up with that number?"
A few months ago, our new BFF Chris Brown looked at some old travel ads I posted and wondered, “Who counted all these lakes in Wisconsin and Michigan? This was three years before the first satellite was launched, how can they be so precise with those lake numbers? And even if they are sure, what’s wrong with ‘more than 8,000 lakes?’”
I’m here to serve, so I asked around.
“How did somebody come up with “8,676 clear blue lakes” back in the 50’s? I have no way to know,” said James P. Lacy, GISP (Geographic Information Systems Professional), assistant state cartographer for the Wisconsin State Cartographers Office, in an e-mail. “The issues that come to mind right away: what defines a “lake”? (At what point does a pond in somebody’s back yard become a lake?) How you treat contiguous bodies of water (e.g., flowages) that have ill-defined boundaries (one body of water, multiple etc.), and most importantly, what is the scale of the map(s) used to make the determination?”
That last is key, he continued, guessing that somebody in the ’50s pulled out a state map with little detail and counted lakes, “…and in the process, missed by a mile!” With a better map, the number would have been different.
Perhaps closer to 15, 074, the number published in 2009 by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said James Vennie, water resources management specialist with the state. But, he continued, that number isn’t firm either, because dams are removed, lakes are dredged for landfill, and other technical stuff that flew right over my head. (Does the phrase “water polygon lines” mean anything to you? Me neither. But never mind.) “So, we now say ‘More than 15,000 lakes,” Vennie said. And he referred me to page 11 of the DNR’s source book, where I learned that 40 percent of the state’s lakes have names; the rest are little guys of less than 10 acres. Still, the inland lake surface area is nearly a million acres. That’s a lotta lake.
So to answer Chris’s last question, “What’s wrong with ‘More than 8,000 lakes’? Nothing. This was just someone trying to be clever. And missing by a mile.
I am so glad you found out the skinny on Wisconsin lake counting! I’m also glad James was a good sport, but I bet he very rarely gets asked and loves nothing more than pontificating on cartography.
Pontificating on cartography, eh? You don’t get to use that phrase every day. Schmancy!
I almost added that that post was probably a once in a lifetime chance to use that phrase.
I wonder where one goes to major in limnological cartography anyway?
I think Wisconsin should change their license plates to say “Land of 15,000 lakes” just to one-up Minnesota.
“Land of 15,000+ Lakes.”
Unfortunately, I had to leave out the word that most excited me while reporting the story … Mr. Vennie is a limnologist. Look it up. Who knew?
That IS a good word. [Learn something new today? Check!]
Although not particularly easy to drop into casual conversation. Unless you run in certain circles.