Sacred Sites, Not Corporate Influence, Deserve Protection
After years of court battles, Kohler can begin construction of a luxury golf course on land eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and home to Native burial sites. A federally mandated 2018 archeological study of the original course unearthed human remains in seven locations.
Kohler is now exploiting a legal loophole. After the courts revoked their wetland permit, the company redesigned the course to avoid wetland permitting – and, importantly, federal requirements for archaeological studies triggered by such permits. The new layout is likely to unearth additional human remains and requires a new conditional use permit and archeological study, which local commissions can require as conditions of approval. Yet Sheboygan’s Plan Commission extended Kohler’s CUP without requiring either, ignoring its authority—and moral responsibility—to make protection of Native burial sites a condition of approval.
Sheboygan Mayor and Plan Commission Chair, Ryan Sorenson, told the Wisconsin Law Journal he was concerned about the Native burial sites and said that Kohler was “trying to find some legal maneuvers to get this [golf course] approved.” Yet at the meeting, his only question to the Kohler representatives were whether they needed more time. He and the commission then rubber-stamped Kohler’s CUP without a single question about whether or how they would protect burial sites.
Kohler is eager to break ground, apparently indifferent to what lies beneath. As commission chair, Sorenson has the power—and the duty—to stop them. He must require a new CUP that protects sacred ground. Native burial sites deserve protection, not erasure.
Dr. Belle Rose Ragins
Town of Wilson, WI.
Sources Cited
Ancient human remains unearthed at proposed golf course site in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Watch. May 22, 2021. https://wisconsinwatch.org/2021/05/ancient-human-remains-unearthed-at-proposed-kohler-golf-course-site-in-wisconsin/
Recording of Sheboygan Plan Commission Meeting approving Kohler’s CUP extension. Sheboygan YouTube Channel: WSCS Sheboygan. November 12, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eHYsfSXMIc
Kohler moves forward with new golf course plans despite Court of Appeals Ruling. Wisconsin Law Journal. December 16, 2024. https://wislawjournal.com/2024/12/16/despite-court-of-appeals-ruling-kohler-proceeds-with-golf-course-plan/
Judge dismisses residents’ lawsuit against city related to Kohler Co. permit extension. Sheboygan Press. September 12, 2025. https://www.sheboyganpress.com/story/money/2025/09/12/lawsuit-kohler-co-golf-course-permit-wisconsin-sheboygan-county/86090903007/
Dr. Belle Rose Ragins
University Distinguished Professor
Contact: Ragins@me.com