Gardening on Public Land

Ryan Monaghan

Studies conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), on outdoor recreation behavior throughout the state, have shown year after year the most popular form of outdoor recreation is not what many people would expect. It turns out that gardening has the most participants statewide out of any leisure activity that is dependent on the outdoors. A question that is being considered by recreation managers is should the WDNR provide a venue for the public to participate in the state’s most popular form of outdoor recreation – gardening – on state land?

Community gardens are common throughout the state and are established in neighborhoods every year. They commonly provide a place for this untraditional form of outdoor recreation in urban areas, where access to outdoor activities is the hardest to find, according to the federal Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Committee.

If the WDNR created garden areas for public use many conflicts would arise.
The land on which the gardens would be developed would only be used one-third of the year, during the relatively short growing season of Wisconsin summers. Currently, public land is open year round to all users. Also, infrastructure such as high-perimeter fencing and facilities for parking and restrooms would have to be created to provide for large numbers of people from diverse age groups. Large conflicts would be created with other land users, who don’t garden, who would lose land for recreation. Another issue would be the need to control the wildlife that would disturb the crops. These changes would significantly alter Wisconsin’s public land.
The WDNR’s mission statement gives guidance for agency employees, “To protect and enhance our natural resources: our air, land and water; wildlife, fish and forests; and the ecosystems that sustain all life.” However, their mission statement also encourages decision makers, “To ensure the right of all people to use and enjoy these resources in their work and leisure.”

According to the Wisconsin Realtors Association, more than 5.7 million acres of land, or 16.5 percent of the state, is publicly owned and used for parks, forests, trails, and natural resource protection. Even though community gardens would occupy a relatively small portion of these lands, is gardening an ethical use of land that was set aside to be left wild and protected? Should these wildlands be plowed over, have herbicides and pesticides applied, and exclude native ecosystems that existed far before settlement?

A policy which encourages gardening on public lands could help turn back the trend of diminishing participation in outdoor recreation, especially by young people, but it is sure to cause significant conflicts. Even with the potential of increasing state DNR revenues and youth participation rates especially in key urban areas, the decision will have to be made weather this type of activity should be put into practice on state lands or if it should stay an activity that occurs on city and local community land.