In 1966 Wisconsin launched a shorelands management program to permit counties to zone all unincorporated areas lying 1000 ft landward of lakes, ponds, and flowages, and to zone 300 ft landward of streams, or to the landward side of the floodplain, whichever is greater. The state developed standards and criteria for the counties including bulk provisions, sanitary restrictions, and subdivision regulations. The state has authority to intervene if counties fail to adopt shoreland regulations. In response to the shorelands program counties have developed planning capabilities which did not exist prior to 1966, and county‐promulgated sanitary standards for shorelands resulted in upgraded state plumbing standards. In 1972 the Wisconsin Supreme Court strongly affirmed the shorelands management program in the leading caseJust v. Marinette County.1