Menominee County seeks public input for Master Plan survey

Menominee County’s Planning Commission is asking residents to take a SurveyMonkey questionnaire as it develops the county’s Master Plan, a document that can shape land use and capital improvements for years. The county says the survey is meant to gather public input on the issues that should guide future community development, including housing, roads, public facilities, conservation and development pressure.

The Planning Commission is the county’s public body for guiding land use and capital improvements, and its duties include conducting studies, investigations and surveys tied to the county’s economic, social and physical development. County planning materials say the commission reviews the comprehensive plan at least every five years after adoption, while Wisconsin law requires a comprehensive plan to be updated no less than once every 10 years and to include population, household and employment forecasts along with demographic trends. That makes the survey more than a formality: it is one of the first places where residents can put their priorities on the record before planners narrow options.

The county’s planning work carries added weight in a place that covers about 234,355 acres, or 360 square miles, with roughly 223,500 acres of heavily forested land. Menominee County’s landscape includes Keshena, Neopit, Zoar and Legend Lake, and the county describes Legend Lake as a spring-fed lake more than six miles long with 47.5 miles of shoreline. Those details help explain why county leaders must balance housing needs, road upkeep, utility planning and conservation concerns while preserving access to land and water that define daily life in the county.

This is also part of an ongoing planning cycle. Menominee County’s 2030 comprehensive plan was originally adopted Dec. 17, 2009, and revised March 19, 2015. The county was established April 30, 1961, and the 2020 Census counted 4,255 residents, making it Wisconsin’s least populous county. County records show new Planning Commission members were to be appointed from letters of interest at the April 21, 2026, board meeting, and the commission’s 2026 agenda listed a public meeting for April 27, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.

Menominee County’s land conservation department also says it works with the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin to protect and enhance land, trees and water. That coordination adds another layer to the Master Plan process, since future decisions on zoning, shoreland rules and capital projects will affect how the county’s rural geography grows, stays protected or changes in the years ahead.