Contributed Photo Shawano Lake property owner Ray Zuelke, right, receives the 2017 Wisconsin Lake Stewardship Award in the Citizen category from Michael Engleson, executive director of Wisconsin Lakes, April 6 in Stevens Point.
The Wisconsin Lakes Partnership has named Ray Zuelke, a property owner on Shawano Lake since 1982, as the winner of a 2017 Wisconsin Lake Stewardship Award in the Citizen category.
The Lakes Partnership presents Stewardship Awards each year to recognize extraordinary volunteer and professional efforts made to protect and improve lakes in Wisconsin.
As a member of the Shawano Area Waterways Association, Zuelke has led the effort to treat the entire lake to fight the invasive Eurasian watermilfoil that plagued its waters.
“Ray exemplified what we look for in a Lake Steward,” said Michael Engleson, executive director of Wisconsin Lakes, one of the organizations that make up the Wisconsin Lakes Partnership. “Ray crafted partnerships, brokered deals, garnered funds, and convinced the not easily convinced to help accomplish this mammoth project.”
Zuelke also helped broker a deal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to hold off on winter drawdowns of the lake until more studies on the impact to the lake could be conducted. A Crew X graduate of the Lake Leaders Institute, he serves on the board of Wisconsin Lakes. He received the state Department of Natural Resources secretary’s award in 2015.
The Stewardship Awards were presented at the Wisconsin Lakes Partnership Convention on April 6 in Stevens Point. Other winners were Onterra LLC (Business), Jennifer Filbert of the DNR (Public Service), Petenwell & Castle Rock Stewards (Group), and Dr. Robert Freckmann of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (Lifetime Service to the Partnership).
The core partners of the Wisconsin Lakes Partnership are Wisconsin Lakes, the statewide nonprofit representing lake organizations and citizens, the DNR (representing government) and UW-Extension Lakes Program (representing academics).