Kickapoo valley reserve
Wis. Stat. § 41.41
in effect(1) Definition. In this section:
(a) “Board” means the Kickapoo reserve management board.
(b) “Mining” means operations or activities for the commercial extraction from the earth of merchantable metallic or nonmetallic minerals or the exploration or prospecting for such minerals and includes operations, processes or activities related to that extraction.
(2) Creation. There is created a Kickapoo valley reserve adjacent to the Kickapoo River, consisting of state-owned land that is acquired by the department from the federal government or acquired by the board under sub. (7) and is designated as the Kickapoo valley reserve by the department.
(3) Objectives. The board shall manage land in the Kickapoo valley reserve to preserve and enhance its unique environmental, scenic and cultural features, to provide facilities for the use and enjoyment of visitors to the reserve and to promote the reserve as a destination for vacationing and recreation.
(4) Policy responsibility and cooperation.
(a) The board is the policy-making body responsible for the Kickapoo valley reserve.
(b) The department shall provide staff within the classified service to assist the board in performing the payroll, accounting and related management functions of the board.
(c) The department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection, the department of natural resources, the department of transportation, the department of administration, the state historical society, and the University of Wisconsin-Extension shall cooperate with and assist the board in matters related to its functions.
(d) Notwithstanding s. 15.03, the department shall process and forward all personnel and biennial budget requests by the board without change except as requested or concurred in by the board.
(5) Board duties. The board shall:
(a) Appoint an executive director outside the classified service.
(b) Publish a map and description of the Kickapoo valley reserve.
(c) Manage the land in the Kickapoo valley reserve in conformity with this section.
(d) Promote to the recreational users of the Kickapoo valley reserve an appreciation of the environmental, scenic and cultural features of the reserve.
(e) Consult and cooperate with the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection, the department of natural resources, the department of transportation, the department of administration, the state historical society, the University of Wisconsin-Extension, any federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state that appoints a liaison representative to the board regarding the management of the Kickapoo valley reserve.
(f) Seek the advice and assistance of and cooperate with local governmental units having jurisdiction of and in the vicinity of the Kickapoo valley reserve.
(g) Conduct one or more public hearings prior to trading land located in the Kickapoo valley reserve or acquiring land for the reserve.
(h) Actively solicit bids for construction, materials, supplies, equipment and contractual services required by the board from bidders located in the region surrounding the Kickapoo valley reserve.
(i) Recognize and honor preexisting highway and utility easements on land that becomes a part of the Kickapoo valley reserve or land that is acquired by the board.
(6) Board restrictions. The board shall not:
(a) Sell land in the Kickapoo valley reserve.
(b) Exercise jurisdiction over land that is not a part of the Kickapoo valley reserve unless that land has been acquired by the board.
(7) Board powers. The board may:
(a) Delegate responsibility for administration of the Kickapoo valley reserve to the executive director.
(b) Subject to any prior action under s. 13.48 (14) (am) or 16.848 (1), lease land that is part of the Kickapoo valley reserve to any person for purposes consistent with the management of the reserve under sub. (3), or for agricultural purposes, and lease other land that is acquired by the board for any lawful purpose.
(c) Subject to approval of the governor under s. 20.914 (1), purchase a parcel of land any portion of which is approved by the department for inclusion in the Kickapoo valley reserve.
(cm) Acquire development rights in land any portion of which is approved by the department for inclusion in the Kickapoo valley reserve. Purchases under this paragraph are subject to the approval of the governor under s. 20.914 (1).
(d) Sell land that is not a part of the Kickapoo valley reserve.
(e) Subject to approval by the governor in the same manner that purchases are approved under s. 20.914 (1), trade a parcel of land that is part of the Kickapoo valley reserve for another parcel of land any portion of which is approved by the department for inclusion in the reserve if the land traded is comparable in value to the land received and any of the following applies:
1. The land received is more suitable to the purposes of the Kickapoo valley reserve than the land traded.
2. The trade serves to consolidate the land in the Kickapoo valley reserve.
3. The trade serves to settle a boundary dispute or encroachment.
(f) Authorize, license and regulate private concessions in the Kickapoo valley reserve for purposes consistent with the management of the reserve under sub. (3) and receive revenue from the concessions.
(g) Subject to ss. 13.48 (10), 16.85 (1) and 20.924 (1), plan, design, construct and maintain facilities in the Kickapoo valley reserve for purposes consistent with the management of the reserve under sub. (3).
(h) Issue orders directing compliance with this section or the rules of the board.
(i) Accept and administer gifts, grants and bequests.
(j) Charge fees for use of the land and facilities in the Kickapoo valley reserve.
(k) Promulgate rules that are applicable only to land in the Kickapoo valley reserve and other land acquired by the board, facilities on that land and waters adjacent to that land establishing restrictions on use of the land, waters and facilities.
(L) Cooperate with and provide matching funds to any nonstock, nonprofit corporation described under section 501 (c) (3) or (4) of the internal revenue code (26 USC 501 (c) 3 or (4)) and exempt from taxation under section 501 (a) of the internal revenue code (26 USC 501 (a)) that is organized to raise moneys for and provide assistance to the Kickapoo valley reserve.
(m) Raise moneys from private donors by selling memberships in the Kickapoo valley reserve or by other similar means.
(n) Grant easements for highway or utility purposes on land that is a part of the Kickapoo valley reserve or land that has been acquired by the board.
(7m) Interim management. Notwithstanding subs. (2), (3) and (6) (a), the board may undertake interim management of land that is to be acquired from the federal government under sub. (2) prior to the transfer of the land to the state, if such interim management is approved by the federal government.
(8) Zoning. Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (13) (a), 59.69 (4), 60.61 (2), 60.62 (1), 61.35 and 62.23 (7), the Kickapoo valley reserve is not subject to the zoning ordinance of any county or municipality, except that any ordinance enacted under s. 59.692, 61.351, 61.353, 62.231, 62.233, or 87.30 governing the zoning of floodplains, shorelands or wetlands in shorelands and any ordinance that is required by law under s. 59.693, 61.354 or 62.234 governing construction site erosion control or storm water management applies in the reserve.
(9) State natural areas. The board shall dedicate as a state natural area under s. 23.27 any land that is a part of the Kickapoo valley reserve and any land that has been acquired by the board if the department of natural resources identifies the land as appropriate for dedication.
(10) Aids equivalent to property taxes.
(a) In this section:
1.
a. Subject to subd. 1. b., “estimated value”, for the year following the year in which the department acquires land within the Kickapoo valley reserve or the board acquires land under sub. (7), means the full value of the land determined by the department of revenue and, for each later year, means the value that was used for calculating the aid payment under this subsection on the land for the prior year increased or decreased to reflect the annual percentage change in the equalized valuation of all real property, excluding improvements, in the taxation district in which the land is located, as determined by comparing the most recent determination of equalized valuation under s. 70.57 for all real property to the next preceding determination of equalized valuation under s. 70.57 for all real property.
b. The “estimated value” of the land in the town of Stark in Vernon County shall include, in 2008, the value of improvements constituting the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Visitor Center and the maintenance buildings associated with the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Visitor Center and, in each later year, the value that was included under this subd. 1. b. in the prior year increased or decreased in the manner described in subd. 1. a.
2. “Taxation district” means a city, village or town, except that if a city or village lies in more than one county, “taxation district” means each portion of the city or village that lies within a separate county.
3. “Taxing jurisdiction” means any entity authorized by law to levy taxes on general property, as defined in s. 70.02, that are measured by the property’s value.
(b) Each year, the department shall ascertain from the clerk of each taxation district in which the reserve or any land acquired by the board is located the aggregate gross general property tax rate for the taxation district, without respect to the school levy tax credit under s. 79.10.
(c)
1. Except as provided in par. (d), on or before each January 31, the department shall pay to the treasurer of each taxation district specified in par. (b), with respect to all land in the Kickapoo valley reserve and all land acquired by the board on or before January 1 of the preceding year, an amount determined by multiplying the estimated value of the land equated to the average level of assessment in the taxation district by the aggregate gross general property tax rate, without respect to the school levy tax credit under s. 79.10, that would apply to the land in that taxation district for that year if it were taxable.
2. On or before February 15, the treasurer of each taxation district receiving a payment under subd. 1. shall pay to the treasurer of each taxing jurisdiction, from the amount received under subd. 1., the taxing jurisdiction’s proportionate share of the payment in lieu of the tax that would be levied on the land if it were taxable.
(d) The department shall make payments under par. (c) on January 31 of any year with respect to land that is a part of the Kickapoo valley reserve as a result of a transfer of ownership from the United States if the land is a part of the reserve on January 1 of that year. Payments under this paragraph shall be made based on the full value of the land on January 1 of that year as determined by the department of revenue.
(11) Commercial mining for minerals prohibited. No person may conduct mining on any land that is a part of the Kickapoo valley reserve or any property acquired by the board. The board shall not authorize any person to conduct mining on any such property.
(12) Enforcement; penalty.
(a) The department shall have police supervision over the Kickapoo valley reserve, other land acquired by the board and all publicly owned rights-of-way adjacent thereto, and its duly appointed agents may arrest, with or without warrant, any person on that property committing an offense against the laws of the state or in violation of any rule of the board in force on that property, and deliver the person to circuit court for the county where the offense is committed and make and execute a complaint charging the person with the offense committed. The district attorney of the county where the offense is committed shall appear and prosecute all actions arising under this paragraph. This paragraph does not preclude exercise of concurrent law enforcement jurisdiction in or adjacent to the reserve, or on other land acquired by the board, by any authority to whom jurisdiction is granted by law.
(b) A person who violates any provision of this section or any rule promulgated or order issued under this section may be required to forfeit not more than $100.
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/41.41Fetched: 10/7/2026