Revised Shorewood plan will affect only diseased, damaged trees

Shorewood Golf Course will continue the longstanding practice of removing dead or diseased trees in playable areas, but a proposal for more extensive tree removal across the 60-acre property has been set aside.

Course Director Rick Warpinski announced the decision Tuesday (Jan. 24).

A tree-management plan drafted by an outside forestry consultant would have removed approximately 180 mature trees from the heavily-wooded nine-hole course. The plan suggested that limited, selective thinning could enhance the golfing experience; reduce maintenance and cleanup; and provide an opportunity to plant new native species within the forested areas of the course.

In recommending that the University reject the proposal, Warpinski said he relied in part on campus and community input from golfers, naturalists, neighbors and others who spoke up at four public forum sessions and shared thoughts via emails and phone calls.

“The feedback from everyone — whether for or against the project — was truly appreciated,” Warpinski said. “As a state-owned property that also has to generate its own operating revenue, we value that feedback. We have responsibilities not only to our playing customers but to the larger campus and community, as well.

“The oak savanna forest here pre-dates the course itself (built in the early 1930s), and the University and Shorewood management will always value the integrity of that property. We have always been, and will continue to be, the best possible stewards of that resource for current and future generations.”

Originally an 18-hole private course, Shorewood was acquired in the late 1960s by the state of Wisconsin and Brown County. About half the course, along with adjacent farmland and bayshore holdings, became the building site for the new UW-Green Bay.

Warpinski says crews will under take several course-improvement projects this winter and spring, including work to extend the tee boxes on holes Nos. 3, 7, and 8. Any work in those areas that includes tree removal will be properly evaluated prior to moving forward, he added.

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