Bad River (Wisconsin)

For other Bad Rivers, see Bad River.

River in Wisconsin, United States

Bad River

The Bad River in Copper Falls State Park in 2006

Map of the Bad River watershed

Location
Country|  United States
State|  Wisconsin
Physical characteristics
Source| Caroline Lake
• coordinates| 46°16′05″N 90°33′40″W﻿ / ﻿46.26806°N 90.56111°W﻿ / 46.26806; -90.56111[1]
• elevation| 1,522 ft (464 m)[2]
Mouth| Lake Superior

• location

| Bad River Indian Reservation

• coordinates

| 46°38′17″N 90°39′09″W﻿ / ﻿46.63806°N 90.65250°W﻿ / 46.63806; -90.65250[1]

• elevation

| 600 ft (180 m)[1]
Length| 74.3 mi (119.6 km)[3]
Basin size| 1,061 sq mi (2,750 km2)[4]

Ramsar Wetland

Official name| Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs
Designated| 2 February 2012
Reference no.| 2001[5]
An aerial view of the mouth of the Bad River (center) and adjacent wetlands in 2006

The Bad River is a river flowing to Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin in the United States. It flows for 119.6 kilometres (74.3 mi)[3] in Ashland County, draining an area of 1,061 square miles (2,750 km2) in portions of Ashland, Bayfield and Iron counties. The Bad River sloughs were designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance on February 2, 2012.

## Course

[edit]

The Bad River issues from the southwestern end of Caroline Lake,[6] a 129-acre (52 ha) shallow lake on the boundary of Ashland and Iron counties which drains an area of acidic peatlands to its east.[7] The Bad River initially flows southwestwardly before turning generally to the north for most of its course, along which it passes through the city of Mellen, Copper Falls State Park, and the community of Odanah in the Bad River Indian Reservation.[6] In the vicinity of Mellen, the riverbed is commonly bedrock and boulder-strewn with numerous whitewater rapids; the river passes over waterfalls and through a granite gorge in Copper Falls State Park.[7] In its lower course in the Bad River Reservation the river's delta along Lake Superior contributes to a 16,000-acre (6,500 ha) complex of wetlands known as sloughs.[8]

The Bad River's largest tributary is the White River,[4] which it collects near its mouth. Other principal tributaries include the Potato and Marengo rivers in its lower course; the Tyler Forks at Copper Falls State Park; and the Iron River upstream of Mellen.[6]

## Wetlands

[edit]

The Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs are one of the sites listed in the list of wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, which was signed in 1971 and entered into force in the US in 1987. It is one of 35 such sites in the US, which cover a total of 4,515,100 acres (1,827,196 ha). The Sloughs were designated on February 2, 2012, and cover 10,760 acres (4,355 ha). It is a "largely undeveloped wetland complex composed of sloughs, bogs and coastal lagoons that harbor the largest natural wild rice bed on the Great Lakes". Two rare mammal species, the grey wolf and the Canada lynx, are found in the wetlands, as are numerous populations of migratory and local bird species, including the endangered piping plover. The rice beds are necessary for maintaining genetic diversity in wild rice strains that grow around Lake Superior, and they are harvested using historic techniques by local tribes. The wetlands are threatened by invasive species, potential upriver mining and wastewater from human activities.[9]

## Variant names

[edit]

The United States Board on Geographic Names issued a decision clarifying the Bad River's name and course in 1965. According to the Geographic Names Information System, the stream has also been known historically as:[1]

* Mashki-Sibi
* Maskesipi
* Maskigo
* Mushkeesebe
* Swamp River

## See also

[edit]

* List of rivers of Wisconsin

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Geographic Names Information System. "GNIS entry for Bad River (Feature ID #1578679)". Retrieved 2007-02-07.
2. ^ Geographic Names Information System. "GNIS entry for Caroline Lake (Feature ID #1562727)". Retrieved 2007-02-07.
3. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 1, 2012
4. ^ a b Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. "Sum of watershed areas of Lower and Upper Bad River; Marengo River; Potato River; Tyler Forks; White River". Watersheds of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
5. ^ "Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
6. ^ a b c DeLorme (1992). Wisconsin Atlas & Gazetteer. Freeport, Maine: DeLorme. pp. 95, 103. ISBN 0-89933-247-1.
7. ^ a b Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. "Upper Bad River Watershed". Archived from the original on 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
8. ^ Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. "Lower Bad River Watershed". Archived from the original on 13 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
9. ^ "The Annotated Ramsar List: United States of America". The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. January 30, 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-04.

## External links

[edit]

* Bad River Watershed Association

* v
* t
* e

Ramsar sites in the United States

* Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
* Bad River Slough
* Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
* Bolinas Lagoon
* Cache River National Wildlife Refuge
* Caddo Lake
* Cape May National Wildlife Refuge
* Catahoula Lake
* Chesapeake Bay
* Cheyenne Bottoms
* Congaree National Park
* Connecticut River
* Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
* Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge
* Delaware Bay
* Dixon Waterfowl Refuge
* Elkhorn Slough
* Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge
* Everglades National Park
* Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
* Francis Beidler Forest
* Grasslands Wildlife Management Area
* Heron Pond – Little Black Slough Nature Preserve
* Horicon Marsh
* Humbug Marsh
* Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
* Kakagon Sloughs
* Kawainui Marsh
* Laguna de Santa Rosa
* Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge
* Niagara River Corridor
* Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
* Olentangy River Wetland Research Park
* Palmyra Atoll
* Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge
* Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
* San Francisco Bay
* Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge
* Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
* Tomales Bay
* Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge
* White River National Wildlife Refuge

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