The Lake Where You Live

Some people end up in jobs that become extremely difficult through no fault of their own, and yet perform more than competently and with unwavering dedication.

One such person is Michael Engleson, executive director of Wisconsin Lakes, our statewide lake association. Mike has been with Wisconsin Lakes for 15 years and took on his current role in 2013. He recently announced plans to step down in September to pursue a venture of his own.

I say Mike has had a challenging job first of all because organizations like Wisconsin Lakes are chronically under-funded, but secondly because about a dozen years ago the association got caught in a changing of the political guard that led to the withdrawal of a significant DNR contribution to its budget.

So Mike had to redouble efforts to raise donations, in addition to all his other duties, which include lobbying the state legislature on issues that affect the lakes and helping individual lake association become more effective advocates for their causes.

Mike is a graduate of Appleton’s Lawrence University and the UW-Madison Law School. While in school he gained considerable experience with non-profits, including serving as an intern with 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, helping rural towns write ordinances to implement their land use plans. 

He also worked six years for the River Alliance of Wisconsin before joining Wisconsin Lakes. In his spare time (such as it is) he has served on the boards of organizations, including Prairie Music & Arts, the Tenant Resource Center of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Community Fund.

In my experience, Mike has been unfailingly willing to lend a hand when called upon. As just one example, each year at the annual Six-County Northwoods Lakes and Rivers meeting, he has made the trip from Madison to give an update on water-related policy issues being debated in the legislature.

Under his leadership Wisconsin Lakes has co-sponsored, with the River Alliance, a series of Lakes in Action–Advocacy 101 workshops, where citizens learn skills like communicating and building effective relationships with lawmakers and reaching consensus on key issues within their own lake associations.

In addition, the LakeKit program (lakekit.net/) assembles a network of volunteers who provide professional services that help lake groups build and maintain effective websites and use technology to communicate with their members and communities. And there’s much more, including a significant role in the annual Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention.

Through it all, Mike has sustained a positive attitude and can-do spirit in the face of the many  major obstacles thrown in his path. No doubt your lake, and mine, are better off for his contributions. And so as he prepares for his next chapter and presumably helps groom a successor, he deserves more than a cursory thank you from all who own property on our lakes, or enjoy them for any of numerous pursuits.

I would suggest, as a farewell gift, that all of us who advocate for lakes redouble our efforts — and revisit our levels of financial support for the organization Mike has led so ably. Meanwhile, I hope that in his next career Mike will find more time to pursue his passions, which include occasionally uncasing his trombone, and often paddling the lakes and streams and hiking the trails of northern Wisconsin. He certainly will leave a large pair of boots to fill. 

Ted Rulseh resides on Birch Lake in Harshaw and is an advocate for lake protection and improvement. His Lakeland Times and Northwoods River News columns are the basis for a book, “A Lakeside Companion,” published by The University of Wisconsin Press. Ted may be reached at [email protected].