Higbee Family Fund

Purpose: The purpose of the Higbee Family Fund is to protect, preserve, and restore the water quality of Lac Courte Oreilles. 

The Higbee Family refers to the descendants of Edward Cady Higbee and Ella May (Bacon) Higbee. Edward was a lawyer and circuit judge in La Crosse, WI. He was captivated by the beauty and serenity of Big Lac Courte Oreilles, and he established a camp on its eastern shore in the early 1900s. Edward and his second wife, Grace Fassett Higbee, rented a cottage in 1917 then purchased the land now referred to as the “Camp at Reserve” in 1919. As of 2017, six generations of Higbee descendants have enjoyed the same property.

The Higbee Family Fund is a Legacy Fund under the management of the Courte Oreilles Lakes Association (COLA) and the Eau Claire Community Foundation. Income from the Higbee Family Fund will provide support to stop pollution, particularly phosphorus pollution, restore habitat, research water quality issues, combat aquatic invasive species, meet financial requirements under state grants that benefit the water quality of the LCO lakes, educate property owners and the public about proper lake stewardship practices, protect the water quality of the lake, and for such other such uses as may be appropriate to support COLA’s mission.

COLA’s Board of Directors are charged with the disbursement of income from the Higbee Family Fund. The annual disbursement should be for significant projects or services associated with COLA and in accordance with stated purpose of the Higbee Family Fund.