ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the premise that the mission of the University of Wisconsin System is to improve the quality of life for the citizens of the state by creating and deploying knowledge and fostering reason in efforts to make the world a better, safer place. It assesses emerging challenges for the university system arising from and confronting some of the state’s basic natural resource-based industries—farming, food processing, forestry, and recreation. Natural resource issues are among the most clearly defined challenges confronting the university. Even so, they are likely to be among those the university system is least able to effectively confront in the years ahead. Fresh water resources are among Wisconsin’s greatest natural treasures. The state is blessed with lakes, including hundreds of miles of shoreline along the Great Lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands, as well as accessible, high-quality groundwater resources.
