The principal focus of the wetland inventory is to produce wetland maps that are graphic representations of the type, size and location of wetlands in Wisconsin. Currently, there are two different datasets that have been created using different mapping methods and technologies.

The majority of the state was mapped using traditional stereo-pair, black-and-white, infrared photography. Within this context, the objective was to provide reconnaissance level information on the location, type, size of these habitats such that they are accurate at the nominal scale of the 1:20,000 (1 inch = 1667 feet) base map.

LiDAR Technology

LiDAR has advanced the ability to see and map wetland and surface water features.

New wetland mapping is underway in areas across the state at a nominal scale of 1:2000 (1 inch = 166.7 feet). The data are being mapped according to the National Wetland Inventory standards using new methods. Please see the WWI SOP for more information.

See LiDAR based status map for more information.

Data

The download contains both the older, high altitude, stereo-photo based mapping as well as the newer LiDAR based mapping. Any older WWI data within a new project area boundary have been removed.

The DNR recognizes the limitations of using remotely sensed information as the primary data source. They are to be used as a guide for planning purposes.

There is no attempt, in either the design or products of this inventory, to define the limits of jurisdiction of any federal, state, or local government or to establish the geographical scope of the regulatory programs of government agencies. Anyone intending to engage in activities involving modifications within or adjacent to wetland areas should seek the advice of appropriate federal, state, or local agencies concerning specified agency regulatory programs and jurisdictions that may affect such activities. The most accurate method of determining the legal extent of a wetland for federal or state regulations is a field delineation of the wetland boundary by a professional trained in wetland delineation techniques.

See https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wetlands/inventory.html for more information on Wisconsin Wetland Inventory mapping.

Please contact Calvin Lawrence, GIS Specialist in the WDNR Waterway and Wetlands Section, at Calvin.Lawrence@wisconsin.gov.

Wetland and surface water polygon data mapped using LiDAR based sources and high-resolution leaf on/off imagery. Mapped to meet or exceed National Wetland Inventory mapping standards for limited parts of Wisconsin. Data mapped after 2018. Visible below 1:95,000.Funding is provided by the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office for Coastal Management under the Coastal Zone Management Act, Grant #NA19NOS419008, and the USDA Forest Service, Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest through both the Good Neighbor Authority program in partnership with WDNR Forestry Division and internal appropriated funding. Portions of wetland mapping provided by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin - Madison Department of Forestry and Wildlife Ecology and Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture.This layer should be used in conjunction with the following layers:

Wisconsin Wetland Inventory Polygon Layer (stereo-pair mapping)Wisconsin Wetland Inventory Filled/Drained Polygon Layer (stereo-pair mapping)Wisconsin Wetland Inventory Filled/Drained Point Layer (stereo-pair mapping)Wisconsin Wetland Inventory Point Layer (stereo-pair mapping)

For more information on 2013 FGDC Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States visit: https://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/wetlands/nwcs-2013For more information on Wisconsin DNR Wetland Mapping visit: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Wetlands/inventory.htmlFor mapping methodology, visit: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/sites/default/files/topic/Wetlands/WWI_SOP.pdf

Original Wisconsin Wetland Inventory maps were created using stereo-pair, 9”x9”, B/W (NIR) aerial photography flown at a scale of 1:20000 (1in=1667ft). Each photo covered four Public Land Survey System Sections with each section being approximately 1 square mile. Wetland delineations were drafted onto the photos using stereoscopes. Wetland features and ponds that were too small to draft as a polygon were given a point symbol. The photos were scanned and the wetland information digitized into a GIS. Data mapped between 1988-2016. Visible below 1:95,000. Updated mapping in Wisconsin is ongoing and the goal is to replace all point symbols with a boundary.Funded by the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office for Coastal Management under the Coastal Zone Management Act, Grant #NA19NOS419008.This layer is too large to download statewide from the Open Data site. It is recommended that users download a filtered version of it by zooming into an area of interest on the map interface. If the data are needed statewide, the full file geodatabase is available for download at https://www..arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=200c06fc04074ef7ae24c0b74737b187This layer should be used in conjunction with the following layers to get full coverage:Wisconsin Wetland Inventory Polygon Layer (stereo-pair mapping)Wisconsin Wetland Inventory NWI Polygon Layer (LiDAR based mapping)Wisconsin Wetland Inventory Filled/Drained Polygon Layer (stereo-pair mapping)Wisconsin Wetland Inventory Filled/Drained Point Layer (stereo-pair mapping)For more information on Wisconsin DNR Wetland Mapping visit: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Wetlands/inventory.html

For the Wisconsin Wetland Classification System used in the stereo-pair dataset visit: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/sites/default/files/topic/Wetlands/WWI_Classification.pdf

These Wisconsin Wetland Inventory (WWI) feature classes show graphic representations of the type, size and location of wetlands in Wisconsin. This data has been prepared from the analysis of high altitude imagery in conjunction with soil surveys, topographic maps, previous wetland inventories and field work.see https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wetlands/inventory.html for more information on Wisconsin Wetland Inventory mapping.Individual county metadata regarding source, scale, and year are coming soon to this site. In the meantime, if you require county level metadata, please contact Calvin Lawrence, GIS Specialist in the WDNR Bureau of Watershed Management, Wetlands Section, at Calvin.Lawrence@wisconsin.gov.

The first basin-wide map of large stands of invasive Phragmites australis (common reed) in the coastal zone was created through a collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey and Michigan Tech Research Institute (Bourgeau-Chavez et al 2013). This data set represents a revised version of that map and was created using multi-temporal PALSAR data and Landsat images from 2016-2017. In addition to Phragmites distribution, the data sets shows several land cover types including urban, agriculture, forest, shrub, emergent wetland, forested wetland, and some based on the dominant plant species (e.g., Schoenoplectus, Typha). The classified map was validated using over 400 field visits.This map covers the Green Bay peninsula and surrounding area on Lake Michigan.

This map presents the percentage of existing wetlands that are in a protected status by sub-lake unit (reporting unit) for each Great Lake, as determined by the LAMPs for each lake. Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario report by sub-lake units. Lake Superior reports by watersheds.*Coastal Wetlands defined here as connected to the Great Lakes and >2 ha (5 acres) in size.Data SourcesWe used the following database for coastal wetland area:Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands 2004 Polygons (Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Consortium): https://www.glc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CWC-GreatLakesCoastalWetlandsInventory-Metadata.pdf We used the following databases for protected area: Nature Conservancy Canada (data agreement) Commission for Environmental Cooperation (databasin.org)- Canada Protected Terrestrial Areas 2012 (Ontario)Ontario GeoHub- Ontario Federal Protected Lands (Ontario) 2018:PAD-US (Protected Areas Database of the U.S.) 2018. CARL (Conservation and Recreation Lands) 2017. Feature Service for Conservation and Recreation Lands in the Great Lakes Atlantic Region (Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa). This layer contains fee lands, preserves, designated lands and other protected lands. This layer does not contain easements.Consultations with regional land experts (The Nature Conservancy GIS Managers) for the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

This map presents the percentage of Coastal Wetlands that are protected for each state or province in the Great Lakes Basin (except Québec, due to data limitations). The percentages vary from a high of 91% to a low of 4%, but the number of coastal wetland acres also varies widely. The five states with the highest total wetland acreage have protected between 37% and 54% of coastal wetlands, while Ontario has protected 17%. *Coastal Wetlands defined here as connected to the Great Lakes and >2 ha (5 acres) in size.Data SourcesWe used the following database for coastal wetland area:Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands 2004 Polygons (Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Consortium): https://www.glc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CWC-GreatLakesCoastalWetlandsInventory-Metadata.pdf We used the following databases for protected area: Nature Conservancy Canada (data agreement) Commission for Environmental Cooperation (databasin.org)- Canada Protected Terrestrial Areas 2012 (Ontario)Ontario GeoHub- Ontario Federal Protected Lands (Ontario) 2018:PAD-US (Protected Areas Database of the U.S.) 2018. CARL (Conservation and Recreation Lands) 2017. Feature Service for Conservation and Recreation Lands in the Great Lakes Atlantic Region (Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa). This layer contains fee lands, preserves, designated lands and other protected lands. This layer does not contain easements.Consultations with regional land experts (The Nature Conservancy GIS Managers) for the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

This map allows users to view coastal wetland investments in protection, restoration, and enhancement projects across the Great Lakes basin. This is not a comprehensive inventory of coastal wetland investments and relevant data sets will continue to be incorporated as they are identified. Please click on the links below the map frame for more information on individual data sets. When using these data sets, please credit the original data provider.GLRI projects were downloaded 9/14/18 from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's web map, "Coastal Wetland Project Sites Fiscal Year 2010 Through 2017." Monitoring, Assessment, and Planning projects are not included in the coastal wetland database. Coastal wetland projects that lacked a hydrologic connection to the Great Lakes were removed. Overall, 51 projects that did not meet the Blue Accounting coastal wetland project criteria were removed from the original data set. 2018 and 2019 GLRI coastal wetland projects were then filtered out of the GLRI project map and added to the database. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's HabITS data from 2010-2019 within a 5mile buffer of the Great Lakes shoreline is included in the database through a data sharing agreement between The Great Lake Commission, The Nature Conservancy, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Overall 14 projects were not included in the database from the 5 mile clip that did not meet BA's criteria as a protection, restoration or enhancement coastal wetland project. Investment projects that list USFWS as the data source have been spatially aggregated to the correlating county shoreline unit to protect private landowner information. Additional data sources include United States Environmental Protection Agency, Michigan Coastal Management Program, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, Coldwater Consulting LLC and The City of Racine, Wisconsin. Location Accuracy: coastal wetland project locations may have errors or may reflect the recipient entities' physical location. The precision category definitions clarify confidence of location accuracy. Some project locations were reassigned from the original EPA database to more accurately reflect the coastal wetland project location based on the EPA’s project description, the recipient organization's website and ESRI satellite imagery. Fields: Project Title: title of coastal wetland project.Recipient: recipient entity that received funding for the stated coastal wetland project.Recipient Category: recipient data that is grouped into seven categories (Federal, State, County, Regional Commission, Municipal, Tribal and Non-Profit).Project Description: description of coastal wetland project.Funding Amount: funding amount for coastal wetland project.Latitude: coordinate of the coastal wetland project.Longitude: coordinate of the coastal wetland project.Project Start Date: the date the project began or is planned to begin.Project End Date: the date the project work ended or is planned to end.Project Award End Year: the year the project work ended or is planned to end.Project Acreage: Individual project acreage. Unknown is chosen for all projects that did not disclose individual project acreage.Lake: Great Lake in which the coastal wetland project takes place.County: county in which the coastal wetland project takes place.State: state in which the coastal wetland project takes place.Congressional District: congressional district in which the coastal wetland project takes place.County: the county in which the coastal wetland project takes place. Funder: the entity that funded the coastal wetland project.Funding Type: funding data that is grouped into five categories (Federal, State, County, Regional Commission, Municipal, Tribal and Non-Profit).Protection: project type that applies that is defined as any acquisition of land that protects coastal wetlands.Enhancement: project type that is defined as activities conducted within an existing coastal wetland that increase ecosystem function(s).Invasive Control: sub category for project type "Enhancement" where invasive species treatment and/or removal is conducted.Restoration: project type that applies to projects in which a non-wetland area (e.g., farm field) is restored to be a coastal wetland. Hydrologic Restoration: sub category for project type “restoration” in which a hydrologic connection is restored.Shoreline Softening: sub category for project type “restoration” in which hardened shoreline is converted to natural shoreline. Socio-Economic Benefit: additional project type category that generalizes projects with a socio-economic benefit. Such as, Recreation, Fisheries, Employment and Ecosystem Services. Project Type: combined category for Protection, Enhancement, Invasive Control, Restoration, Hydrologic Restoration and Shoreline Softening. Note: if project type is a sub-category only the sub-category is identified. Multiple Project Locations: a "Yes" or "No" value is assigned for multiple projects. "Yes" is assigned when there are multiple project locations listed in the project description.Location Precision: Values are assigned based on the precision scale defined as the following-High: project site is displayed and accurate based on EPA database project description, recipient organization’s website and Esri satellite imagery.Medium: Location is within the correct county and congressional district for at least one of the listed projects but may not represent the exact project location.Low: project is on the right lakeshore for at least one of the listed project locations, but county/congressional district could be incorrect.Site ID: All projects are assigned a Site ID that correlate to the Object ID of the original projects in the EPA’s “Coastal wetland project sites fiscal year 2010 through 2017” layer.Data Source: data source defines the data provider for the given coastal wetland project.The three data sources are the Environmental Protection Agency, the Michigan Coastal Management Program, and the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program. More data sources will be identified as additional entities provide coastal wetlands investment data.Project Contact: Y/N category for if a project contact has been identified. Contact information will be stored in a related table and unavailable publicly. Verification Status: Verified/Unverified category describes if the coastal wetlands project has been verified by Blue Accounting. Unverified projects have been submitted by a public user and are pending verification by Blue Accounting (these are not shown on the map).

Aerial photographs for Pools 1-13 Upper Mississippi River System and Pools, Alton-Marseilles, Illinois River were collected in color infrared (CIR) in August of 2010 at 8”/pixel and 16”/pixel respectively using a mapping-grade Applanix DSS 439 digital aerial camera. In August 2011, CIR aerial photographs for Pools 14-Open River South, Upper Mississippi River and Pools Dresden-Lockport, Illinois River were collected at 16”/pixel with the same camera. All CIR aerial photos were orthorectified, mosaicked, compressed, and served via the UMESC Internet site. The CIR aerial photos were interpreted and automated using a 31-class LTRMP vegetation classification. The 2010/11 LCU databases were prepared by or under the supervision of competent and trained professional staff using documented standard operated procedures and are subject to rigorous quality control (QC) assurances (NBS, 1995).

The Green Bay, WI Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) dataset comprises 936 km2 around the city of Green Bay, surrounding towns, tribal lands and rural areas in Brown and Outagamie Counties. These leaf-on LC data and maps were derived from 1-m pixel, four-band (red, green, blue, and near-infrared) aerial photography acquired from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) on three dates in 2010: July 3, July 25, and August 5. LiDAR data collected on November 18, 2010 was integrated for the Brown County portion. Eight land cover classes were mapped: water, impervious surfaces, soil and barren land, trees and forest, grass and herbaceous non-woody vegetation, agriculture, and wetlands (woody and emergent). Wetlands were copied from the best available existing wetlands data. Analysis of a random sampling of 566 photo-interpreted land cover reference points yielded an overall user's accuracy (MAX) of 90.4% and a fuzzy user's accuracy (RIGHT) of 94.1%. This dataset was produced by the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

This EnviroAtlas dataset describes the percentage of each block group that is classified as impervious, forest, and green space. Forest is combination of trees and forest and woody wetlands. Green space is a combination of trees and forest, grass and herbaceous, agriculture, woody wetlands, and emergent wetlands. Wetlands includes both Woody and Emergent Wetlands. This dataset also includes the area per capita for each block group for impervious, forest, and green space land cover. This dataset was produced by the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets ).

This EnviroAtlas dataset describes the breakdown of the land cover classes with each Census Block Group. In this community, forest is defined as Trees & Forest, and Woody Wetlands. Green space is defined as Trees & Forest, Grass & Herbaceous, Agriculture, Woody Wetlands, and Emergent Wetlands. Agriculture is defined as Agriculture alone.Wetlands are defined as Woody Wetlands and Emergent Wetlands. This dataset also includes the area per capita for each block group for some land cover types. This dataset was produced by the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

Wisconsin wetland inventory (WWI) maps show graphic representations of the type, size and location of wetlands in Wisconsin. These maps have been prepared from the analysis of high altitude imagery in conjunction with soil surveys, topographic maps, previous wetland inventories and field work.Go to WDNR Open Data site

An extreme flood in 2016 caused widespread culvert blockages and road failures across northern Wisconsin, including extensive damage along steep tributaries and ravines in the Marengo River watershed. Along with the flooding, there were fluvial erosion hazards (FEH) associated with a large amount of erosion in headwater areas. Of special concern were FEHs associated with gullying, loss of wetland storage, and valley-side mass wasting. In 2020, a pilot study was begun to map and classify ephemeral and perennial streams and wetlands in terms of their susceptibility to fluvial erosion hazards. This study combines rapid geomorphic field assessments of river corridor erosion and coupled sediment and debris delivery with mapping geomorphic vulnerability zones in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The FEH assessment results will ultimately be used to identify and prioritize natural flood management projects related to stream and wetland restoration.

The Atlas of the Biosphere is a product of the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), part of the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. The goal is to provide more information about the environment, and human interactions with the environment, than any other source.

The Atlas provides maps of an ever-growing number of environmental variables, under the following categories:

Human Impacts (Humans and the environment from a socio-economic perspective; i.e., Population, Life Expectancy, Literacy Rates);

Land Use (How humans are using the land; i.e., Croplands, Pastures, Urban Lands);

Ecosystems (The natural ecosystems of the world; i.e., Potential Vegetation, Temperature, Soil Texture); and

Water Resources (Water in the biosphere; i.e., Runoff, Precipitation, Lakes and Wetlands).

Map coverages are global and regional in spatial extent. Users can download map images (jpg) and data (a GIS grid of the data in ESRI ArcView Format), and can view metadata online.

Calumet County wetland areas over two acres in size. The data was created in 2005 as a digitized version of the 1994 Wisconsin Wetland Inventory maps created by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Aerial photographs for Pools 1-13 Upper Mississippi River System and Pools, Alton-Marseilles, Illinois River were collected in color infrared (CIR) in August of 2010 at 8”/pixel and 16”/pixel respectively using a mapping-grade Applanix DSS 439 digital aerial camera. In August 2011, CIR aerial photographs for Pools 14-Open River South, Upper Mississippi River and Pools Dresden-Lockport, Illinois River were collected at 16”/pixel with the same camera. All CIR aerial photos were orthorectified, mosaicked, compressed, and served via the UMESC Internet site. The CIR aerial photos were interpreted and automated using a 31-class LTRMP vegetation classification. The 2010/11 LCU databases were prepared by or under the supervision of competent and trained professional staff using documented standard operated procedures and are subject to rigorous quality control (QC) assurances (NBS, 1995).

In the late 1880's and early 1900's the Mississippi River Commission (MRC) conducted an extensive high-resolution survey of the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois to Minneapolis, Minnesota. These data were published as a series of 89 survey maps and index. In the 1990's, the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) in conjunction with the US Army Corps of Engineers Upper Mississippi River Restoration- Environmental Management Program -- Long Term Resource Monitoring Program element (LTRMP) for the Upper Mississippi River automated the maps' land cover/use symbology to create a turn of the century/pre-impoundment land cover/use data set. Other data on the maps that were not automated include; elevation contours, water depth soundings, proposed water control structures (e.g., wing dams), levees, benchmarks, railroads, and city streets.

This data set represents the extent, approximate location and type of wetlands and deepwater habitats in the United States and its Territories. These data delineate the areal extent of wetlands and surface waters as defined by Cowardin et al. (1979). The National Wetlands Inventory - Version 2, Surface Waters and Wetlands Inventory was derived by retaining the wetland and deepwater polygons that compose the NWI digital wetlands spatial data layer and reintroducing any linear wetland or surface water features that were orphaned from the original NWI hard copy maps by converting them to narrow polygonal features. Additionally, the data are supplemented with hydrography data, buffered to become polygonal features, as a secondary source for any single-line stream features not mapped by the NWI and to complete segmented connections. Wetland mapping conducted in WA, OR, CA, NV and ID after 2012 and most other projects mapped after 2015 were mapped to include all surface water features and are not derived data. The linear hydrography dataset used to derive Version 2 was the U.S. Geological Survey's National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). Specific information on the NHD version used to derive Version 2 and where Version 2 was mapped can be found in the 'comments' field of the Wetlands_Project_Metadata feature class. Certain wetland habitats are excluded from the National mapping program because of the limitations of aerial imagery as the primary data source used to detect wetlands. These habitats include seagrasses or submerged aquatic vegetation that are found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of estuaries and near shore coastal waters. Some deepwater reef communities (coral or tuberficid worm reefs) have also been excluded from the inventory. These habitats, because of their depth, go undetected by aerial imagery. By policy, the Service also excludes certain types of "farmed wetlands" as may be defined by the Food Security Act or that do not coincide with the Cowardin et al. definition. Contact the Service's Regional Wetland Coordinator for additional information on what types of farmed wetlands are included on wetland maps. This dataset should be used in conjunction with the Wetlands_Project_Metadata layer, which contains project specific wetlands mapping procedures and information on dates, scales and emulsion of imagery used to map the wetlands within specific project boundaries.

This dataset contains over 450 records for coastal wetlands and streams in Wisconsin. The wetlands included in these layers are those bordering Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.