Governor hikes to Manitou Falls
May 6—SUPERIOR — Tourism is a $25 billion industry in Wisconsin, according to the most recent figures available.
To kick off National Travel and Tourism Week, Gov. Tony Evers and Wisconsin Tourism Secretary Anne Sayers headed north Monday, May 5, for stops at the Wisconsin Logging Museum in Eau Claire and a hike to Wisconsin's tallest waterfall in Pattison State Park.
Manitou Falls is a few feet shorter than Niagara Falls, Gervase Thompson, property supervisor for Pattison and Amnicon Falls state parks, told the guests.
"It's just amazing to see these attractions and know that for us, it's in our backyard," Thompson said.
Thompson shared the park's history: Lumber and mining baron Martin Pattison's love of the outdoors prompted him to secretly acquire 660 acres of land that encompassed the Little Manitou Falls and Big Manitou Falls on the Black River. In 1920, Pattison donated the property to the state, making Pattison State Park the state's sixth park.
But it was the Civilian Conservation Corps camp near the Little Manitou Falls that helped shape the 1,400-acre state park named for its benefactor in the 1930s.
Today, the lodge and bathhouse, built with stone cut by hand from a local quarry and ax-hewn beams, remain prominent features of Pattison State Park.
"We have period furniture from those days ... still being used today," Thompson said.
"What a beautiful place," Evers said, following a hike to the south and north sides of the sandstone and basalt gorge where the Black River cascades down the 165-foot-high waterfall.
Evers said his goal was to highlight Wisconsin's booming tourism economy and investments included in his 2025-2027 executive budget to continue to lift the industry vital to Wisconsin.
The governor's budget proposal includes:
* Nearly $34 million for the Department of Tourism to promote Wisconsin as a premier business, cultural and recreational destination.
* $10 million in incentives to bring film and television productions and other creative endeavors to Wisconsin.
* $5.9 million to the Wisconsin Arts Board to support nonprofit arts organizations.
* $1 million in new grants for rural creative economies.
* More than $500,000 and several staff positions to make the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation permanent.
"Outdoor recreation alone is a $11.2 billion industry in Wisconsin," Sayers said. "That's permanent and growing, and we want to make sure that the office that supports it is also permanent."
Thompson said Pattison State Park sees between 150,000 and 180,000 visitors each year.
Places like Pattison State Park help put things in perspective, Evers said.
"Tourism is really important to the state of Wisconsin, and outdoor recreation provides a lot of money for our state," Evers said. "And people love to come to Wisconsin. People in Wisconsin love coming to places like this, so we're here enjoying it."
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