Friends of the Gile Flowage

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Friends of the Gile Flowage

The Friends of the Gile (FOG) welcomes everyone who loves the wild beauty of the Gile Flowage!

Join us in preserving and protecting the “Boundary Waters” of Wisconsin’s Northwoods - for today, tomorrow, and for future generations.

06/15/2026

Celebrate!

Despite rainy weather, about 50 folks gathered at the Gile Park pavilion to mark Iron County's purchase of 1100 acres of Flowage property from Xcel Energy. Over 20 islands and 18 miles of shoreline are included in the buy. The lands are now part of the Iron County Forest and open to all.

The ceremony celebrated the four-plus year scramble to secure $5.6 million in grant funding to complete the purchase before the close of 2025.

Representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Administration-Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, the WI DNR, Xcel Energy, Iron County, and the Friends of the Gile Flowage spoke on behalf of the purchase. State, local, and tribal partners who wrote letters of support were acknowledged..

Celebrate! The Gile Flowage's conservation values and public access are now preserved for future generations.

06/08/2026

Celebrate! Gile Flowage Purchase Ceremony!!

Join us to celebrate Iron County's purchase of 1104 acres and over 20 islands on the Gile Flowage on Thursday, June 11 at 2:00 pm at Gile Park in Gile, WI.

This ceremony will celebrate the partnerships that made this conservation purchase possible. Light refreshments will be served.

Everyone is invited to celebrate this remarkable achievement that preserves the conservation and public access values of the Gile Flowage in perpetuity!.

05/21/2026

You're Invited! FOG Annual Meeting: 6/6 @ 9 am

The Friends of the Gile Flowage (FOG) celebrates its 22nd year at its annual meeting on Saturday, June 6 from 9-10 am. The meeting will be held at the Town of Pence town hall located on Hwy 77 in Pence, WI.

We'll discuss the upcoming Gile Flowage purchase ceremony, on-going projects and issues, and gather ideas for new stewardship work. Light refreshments will be served.

Everyone is welcome to attend. FOG is one of the only Wisconsin lake associations open to everyone- whether you live on the Flowage or just love it!

Join us and support the Gile Flowage!!

05/14/2026

Flowage Futures-Your Recommendations Needed!
Your ideas for the Flowage's future recreation use are needed. Look for signs (shown in the comments) posted at Flowage boat landings and at popular shoreland and island use areas. Scan the QR code to take a brief survey to share your thoughts.

05/11/2026

Invasion of the.... ???

What can we do to protect our lakes from being invaded by non-native aquatic plants and animals? Attend the Clean Boats-Clean Water training being offered by the Iron County Land Conservation Office on Thursday, May 21 from 9-11 am. The training location will be 607 3rd Ave. North in Hurley. Registration is appreciated using the QR code on the flyer below, but not required. There is no charge to attend.

The Gile Flowage is a known source of invasive spiny water fleas. If not properly cleaned, boats using the Flowage can spread "spinys" to other lakes. Likewise, boats coming to our Flowage can spread invasives such as Eurasian Water Milfoil, that would affect negatively impact the Flowage's fish habitat and water quality.

Invasives can be spread by power watercraft as well as kayaks and canoes! We all need to help "stop the spread!"

04/30/2026

New Dock and Kayak Launch Donated for County C Landing!

A new dock and kayak launch has been installed at the Gile Flowage's County C boat landing. The dock and launch is a joint project between the Iron County Forestry Department with donations from the Friends of the Gile Flowage (FOG) and the Hurley Lions Club. Additional funding was provided by the County Conservation Project fund. Iron County will own the new dock.

The kayak launch makes it easier and safter for kayakers to get in and out of their boats, especially folks with mobility or accessibility issues. The launch cradles a kayak keeping it stable while the boater enters. A grab bar above the launch helps the boater position themself in their kayak. Rollers can it easy to slide the kayak into the water, ready for a paddle!

The new 40 ft. dock is designed for canoes, kayaks, and light watercraft.

Larger fishing boats and watercraft should use the main County C dock which is owned and operated by the Wisconsin DNR. This dock is expected to be placed in the water soon.

Here's the Iron County Forestry crew installing the new dock and a close up of the kayak launch that is attached to the dock's end.

Thank you Iron County, FOG, and the Hurley Lions Club for making the Gile Flowage more kayaker friendly!

04/29/2026

What's up with the Nets on the Gile Flowage?

The WI DNR is doing scheduled fish sampling on the Gile Flowage this spring. Nets have been set near the County C boat landing and electroshocking is being done at night.

Please be respectful of nets and sampling boats. They are gathering research to the help the Flowage's fishery!

04/06/2026

Iron County Purchases Gile Flowage Xcel Properties

Great news for the preservation of the Gile Flowage-the “Boundary Waters” of northern Wisconsin.

The Iron County Board of Supervisors has unanimously accepted the purchase of 1055 acres of Gile Flowage islands, shorelines, and uplands from former owner Xcel Energy and accepted them into the Iron County Forest. These lands will be protected and open to the public in perpetuity. Eric Peterson, Iron County Forest Administrator, provided the leadership to make this remarkable purchase a reality.

The purchase was funded by a $4.1 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with assistance from the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, to provide long-term conservation of critical habitat in Lake Superior’s coastal zone. Additional funds from a Knowles-Nelson Stewardship grant were needed to complete the funding package.
A huge “thank you” for local support from Iron County, towns and municipalities, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), and neighboring Bad River and Lac du Flambeau Bands of the Lake Superior Ojibwe, and the Friends of the Gile Flowage (FOG).

A celebration of this achievement will be held in early summer. We'll keep you posted!

10/30/2025

WAKE BOAT FORUM-11/12/25 6-8 pm Mercer Community Center

An informational meeting to learn about the impacts of Wake Boating, also called "Wake Enhancement" Sports, will be held on Wednesday, November 12 from 6-8 pm at the Mercer Community Building.

What's the issue with Wake Boats?

These specially designed boats create waves large enough so that one person can "surf" behind the boat. To do this, the boats suck in up to 600 gallons of lake water into their ballast tanks (about 5000 pounds of water) that forces the bow up and the stern down. This boat angle reduces the operator’s line of sight which poses a safety issue for other boaters who might be in their path and for wake boater themselves given the many navigation hazards (rock bars, stumps) present in the Flowage. This is an ISSUE.

With their stern deep in the water, the powerful downward angled propellors are used to create 3-4 foot waves. It might be fun for the "surfer", but these huge waves can swamp other watercraft, cause shoreline erosion, and damage docks and moored boats. Research shows that even at 200 ft. away from the wake boat’s path, the residual wave height can be 16 inches. This is higher than the freeboard of a kayak, canoe, or typical small fishing boat! With the majority of Flowage use being for fishing, pontoon boating, and kayaking, this is an ISSUE.

These powerful down-facing propellors stir up sediment and can damage aquatic plants and spawning areas when operating in less than 20 ft. of water. With majority of the Flowage less than 20 feet deep (except for one 25 ft. in one deep hole) and needing all the aquatic habitat it can get for its fishery, this is an ISSUE.

Since wake boat ballast tanks don’t drain completely, aquatic invasives sucked in from one lake can be transferred to other lakes. With the Flowage being a source of invasive spiny water fleas, and other lakes harboring new aquatic invasive species currently not found in the Flowage, this is an ISSUE.

Is there a place for wake boats and wake enhanced recreation? Yes,! Lake Superior is one great option. But not the Gile Flowage or most Iron County inland lakes. There are just too many ISSSUES!

Photo Credit: Big Cedar Lake Association

09/30/2025

FOG Fall Island Clean Up A Success and A Surprise!

Three boats with FOG members ventured out on a rainy mid-September Sunday morning to conduct the annual fall clean up of Gile Flowage Islands. They were joined by Tom C. from Gile who heard about the event and volunteered his help bringing the total to four boats participating in the clean up.

Volunteers picked their islands to inspect for garbage and trash. To everyone's surprise, only a small amount of trash was found-- even on the islands that get heavier summer visitation. In past years, the FOG Fall Island Cleanup yielded several hundred pounds of trash including toilets, sofas, and living room carpets! Perhaps keeping the islands clean of trash encourages visitors to keep them that way.

Thank you to the FOG members and Tom C. for making the 2025 FOG Island Cleanup a success, And a thank you to other FOG volunteers routinely pick up trash from Flowage boat landings and roadways.

The FOG Fall Island Cleanup was started over 25 years ago by the late Jim Kaffine who was a founding member of FOG. The clean up is held annually in his honor.

Address

PO BOX 227
Montreal, WI
54550

Website

https://www.friendsofthegile.org/

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