Powell Marsh Wildlife Area

Powell Marsh Wildlife Area is a 4,850-acre protected wetland in northern Wisconsin near Manitowish Waters, managed chiefly for habitat and especially important for birdlife. First developed by the 1930s with farmsteads and a short lumber railway, it later relied on fire and then controlled burns to shape vegetation. After state acquisition began in 1955, managers tried to improve goose habitat with dikes, drainage, and decoys, but by 1974 the focus shifted as goose use declined. A 2016 master plan emphasized water-level management for shorebirds and other waterfowl. The marsh also remains within Ojibwe treaty-ceded territory and is linked to concerns over water changes affecting nearby Dead Pike Lake.

Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin · United States