Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 23.11 (2026)
General powers
✓ current as of July 2026
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23.11(1)(1) In addition to the powers and duties heretofore conferred and imposed upon said department by this chapter it shall have and take the general care, protection and supervision of all state parks, of all state fish hatcheries and lands used therewith, of all state forests, and of all lands owned by the state or in which it has any interests, except lands the care and supervision of which are vested in some other officer, body or board; and said department is granted such further powers as may be necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise the functions and perform the duties required of it by this chapter and by other provisions of law. But it may not perform any act upon state lands held for sale that will diminish their salable value.
23.11(2)(2) Whenever any lands placed by law under the care and supervision of the department are inaccessible because surrounded by lands belonging to individuals or corporations, and whenever in the opinion of the department the usefulness or value of such lands, whether so surrounded or not, will be increased by access thereto over lands not belonging to the state, the department may acquire such lands as may be necessary to construct highways that will furnish the needed access.
23.11(4)(4) The department shall have police supervision over all state-owned lands and property under its supervision, management and control, and its duly appointed agents or representatives may arrest, with or without warrant, any person within such area, committing an offense against the laws of this state or in violation of any rule of the department in force in such area, and deliver such person to the proper court of the county wherein such offense has been committed and make and execute a complaint charging such person with the offense committed. The district attorney of the county wherein such offense has been committed shall appear and prosecute all actions arising under this subsection.
23.11(5)(5) The department may require an applicant for a permit or statutory approval which the department, by order, may grant, to submit an environmental impact report if the area affected exceeds 40 acres, the estimated cost of the project exceeds $25,000, or the applicant is requesting approval for a high capacity well described in s. 281.34 (4) (a) 1. to 3.
23.11 AnnotationThis section lacks any substantive criteria by which a petitioner could use s. 227.52 or 227.53 to challenge a Department of Natural Resources decision regarding state parks, and nothing in the text protects, recognizes, or regulates any person’s interest in state parks or contemplates a challenge to agency action related to state parks. Friends of the Black River Forest v. Kohler Co., 2022 WI 52, 402 Wis. 2d 587, 977 N.W.2d 342, 19-0299.
23.11 AnnotationUnder sub. (4), Department of Natural Resources wardens have general law enforcement authority on state-owned lands and property under the department’s supervision, management, and control. 68 Atty. Gen. 326.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1975–2025 · leading case: Friends of the Black River Forest v. DNR, 2022 WI 52 (Wis. 2022).
Friends of the Black River Forest v. DNR, 2022 WI 52 (Wis. 2022). “The statute further requires the Board to "present to the governor a full and complete report of the lands to be sold, the reason for the sale, the price for which said lands should be sold together with an application for the sale of the 19 Although the Friends did not include…”
Schaefer v. Am. Fam. Mut. Ins., 531 N.W.2d 585 (Wis. 1995). “, Damages In Tort Actions § 23.11 [1] [b] at 23-13-23-14 (1994). 9 See Perlman Deposition, at 46 and 47.”
State v. Town of Linn, 556 N.W.2d 394 (Wis. Ct. App. 1996). “Clearly, the public trust doctrine requires that the general public benefit from any such rules. Wisconsin Const, art. IX, § 1. Regulation of the state's public access facilities by the DNR certainly is not inconsistent with these principles.”
Wisconsin's Env't Decade, Inc. v. Wisconsin Power & Light Co., 395 F. Supp. 313 (W.D. Wis. 1975). “See Davis, Administrative Law, § 23.11 (1970 Supp.). It has been argued that the ministerial-discretionary distinction fails to address the central question: accepting that an administrator has a certain amount of discretion in a particular area, what are the limits within which…”
State v. John R. Phelan (Wis. Ct. App. 2025). “§ 23.11(4) (granting the DNR “police supervision over all state-owned lands and property under its supervision, management[,] and control”).”
Friends of the Black River Forest v. DNR (Wis. Ct. App. 2020). “5 ¶29 The Friends alleged anticipated recreational, aesthetic, and conservational injuries that are environmental in nature, and the laws cited by the Friends for protection are themselves environmental in nature.”
— Wis. Stat. § 23.11(1) — 1 case
Friends of the Black River Forest v. DNR, 2022 WI 52 (Wis. 2022). “The statute further requires the Board to "present to the governor a full and complete report of the lands to be sold, the reason for the sale, the price for which said lands should be sold together with an application for the sale of the 19 Although the Friends did not include…”
— Wis. Stat. § 23.11(4) — 1 case
State v. John R. Phelan (Wis. Ct. App. 2025). “§ 23.11(4) (granting the DNR “police supervision over all state-owned lands and property under its supervision, management[,] and control”).”
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