Re: has the govt. shudown closed the public launches?
Well, very heroic and all, but not really the same thing as other federal park shutdowns. If you read the linked article (and a couple of other links within the article) they are talking about State Parks that receive some federal funding, on average about 15%. These are facilities actually operated by the Wisconsin DNR and mostly funded by the state. There is a lot of strange stuff in Wisconsin mostly due to treaties with the Native American populations. Again, very heroic to put a thumb in the eye of the Feds as is so richly deserved.
For an example here in Iowa, there are about a half dozen COE flood control impoundments and all the federally controlled ramps and camp grounds within those impoundments are closed. One partial exception I know of is the Coralville Reservoir about 5 miles up the road from me. The COE controlled ramps are closed. However, there is one ramp in a state park adjoining the federal land that is open and there are 2 private ramps - one owned by a private campground and restaurant and the other owned by a marina. the private ones probably involve use fees but I haven't checked. So, a lot of ramps closed but still plenty of boats on the rez. I was out there myself a couple of days ago.
