Wisconsin's passage of a milldam act in the early 1800s signaled its willingness to modify traditional property rights. Similar to other states, Wisconsin began to view property in terms of economic potential, opting for a transformational approach that put property and nature to work. The traditional views of quiet enjoyment and absolute dominion were discarded. Today, the transformational view of property is yielding to an ecological view. The Milldam Act's repeal and the removal of the dams it created is not only possible, it would confirm Wisconsin's move to an ecological view of property.
