Lake MichiganвЂ™s water levels have swung dramatically over the past decade. That includes a more than 830% increase from 2018 to 2020 in вЂњemergency self-certificationsвЂќ to protect structures facing imminent danger from accelerating erosion residents filed 280 applications last year, up from fewer than 30 in 2018. The trend extends along the Door Peninsula, where the DNR is seeing a surge in applications to construct such barriers along the shoreline. Nearly all of his neighbors now have riprap - slopes of rock or concrete that absorb force from waves - or some other kind of barrier, most of them constructed last year, he said. Just south of the park, Bo Ellis in 2020 stacked rocks along his shorefront to deflect the waves amid worries that his home would topple into the lake. The powerful waves that have gobbled up the beach at Whitefish Dunes have sent nearby homeowners scrambling to build walls to protect their beaches. Andraca, D-Whitefish Bay, who has proposed legislation to finance shoreline protection projects. вЂњWe need to increase funding for state parks and we also need to look for additional ways to support homeowners and municipalities along the shoreline,вЂќ said state Rep. Scott Walker eliminated general-purpose spending on park operations. The DNR is looking for grants and external funding sources for repairs, but it can only prioritize the most serious damage unless lawmakers invest more in a park system that currently ranks among the countryвЂ™sВ worst-funded.В State parks have largely relied on revenue from admissions and campsite reservations since 2015, when then-Gov.

But the agencyвЂ™s funding remains scarce, and even greenlighted repairs can take years to complete. That would only lengthen a backlog of thousands of needed repairs that one DNR official pegs at nearly $1 billion. Scientists expect erosion to worsen as climate change brings more volatility to Great Lakes water levels. Just as local homeowners haveВ watched waves flood and erode their lakefront, Wisconsin may see more damage to its shoreline parks. Its metal carcass lies twisted on the beach. At Point Beach State Forest, about 60 miles south of Whitefish Dunes, a winter storm hammered the beach three years ago and mangled the ramp leading to the beach. North of the Door Peninsula, water swamped the dock at Rock Island State Park, closing the island to campers for most of 2020 and reducing admission revenue that funds the park system. While beaches have somewhat recovered as water recedes from 2020 levels, the state Department of Natural Resources -which oversees a state system of 49 parks, 15 forests and 44 trails - has yet to repair many amenities destroyed in the surge. But Lake MichiganвЂ™s volatile waters have imposed their own limits along the shoreline. Visitors have flocked to Whitefish Dunes and other Wisconsin state parks in record numbers during the pandemic, seeking fun and relaxation while public health measures limited indoor options. That threw a wrench into social distancing protocols during a coronavirus pandemic that drove people outdoors. And record-high waters in 2020 left only a narrow stretch of beach at Whitefish Dunes for people to sunbathe. The ramp remains closed three years later, preventing people with disabilities from accessing the beach.

In 2018, those elements undermined a walkway leading to the parkвЂ™s beach. These shores have attracted humans for thousands of years evidence lies in the Native American pottery, bone tools and thousands of other artifacts that Lake MichiganвЂ™s forces are increasingly unearthing from the dunes.Д«ut those same winds and waters are also whittling away the parkвЂ™s landmarks -вЂЇeroding dunes, toppling trees, damaging amenities and, at times, swallowing the beach whole. Come winter, gazers marvel at erupting ice volcanoes - cone-shaped mounds formed when waves shoot slush and water through cracks in ice. Summer visitors splash on its beach or hike to Old Baldy, the parkвЂ™s tallest dune that rises nearly 100 feet above the lake. Wind stacks that sand into the mighty dunes that inspired the parkвЂ™s name. Water delivers fine sand to a shoreline that supports threatened plants like the dune thistle. Lake MichiganвЂ™s winds and waves have sculpted the landscape of Whitefish Dunes State Park, a must-see treasure along WisconsinвЂ™s Door Peninsula.

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