Journalist in Residence Dan Egan Reports on Legal Battle for Public Access Along Lake Michigan Shorelines 

A new article by Journalist in Residence Dan Egan for Wisconsin Watch exposes a critical legal fight over public access to Lake Michigan beaches.  

The article follows the case of UWM professor Paul Florsheim, who is fighting Shorewood’s issuance of a trespassing citation for walking across a stretch of Lake Michigan beach between the water’s edge and the Ordinary High Water Mark that he has frequented for more than fifty years. Egan’s reporting discusses the regional legal disparity between Wisconsin and neighboring states such as Michigan and Indiana, where the public’s right to walk along the coastline has been settled in favor of the public by state Supreme Courts. Egan’s story delves into the context surrounding the dispute, with a focus on the property owner’s compound right on the beach (pictured above). Florsheim’s case is pending a decision in the municipal court. 

Read the full story on Wisconsin Watch: Public property. No trespassing? Man hopes his $313 ticket will reshape Lake Michigan shoreline access 

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