Working forests define the northern Wisconsin landscape, providing timber for the state’s mills, jobs for local residents, tax revenue for local communities, habitat for wildlife, recreational opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts and clean drinking water for thousands of people. Thanks to a broad group of partners from the public and private sectors, one of northern Wisconsin’s endangered forest landscapes has been protected.

Our Role

We helped secure the opportunity for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to purchase an easement from the Lyme Timber Company, while also helping the agency to design the conservation easement. This significant effort was made possible with funding from the federal Land and Water Conservation, through the Forest Legacy Program, and Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program. Providing key support was the Richard King Mellon Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Enbridge’s Neutral Footprint Fund and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through Walmart’s Acres for America Program.

Why This Project Matters

The easement preserves nearly 14 miles of tributaries and streams and more than 80 small lakes and ponds located within the headwaters of the St. Croix and Bois Brule rivers. These rivers serve as sources of drinking water to many nearby towns. Under the terms of the easement, vast stretches of sustainably managed forestland will help to filter and clean the waterways while also providing a steady flow of wood products to local mills and a shifting mosaic of forest habitat for birds.

A working forest easement ensures public recreational access to 39 miles of hiking, biking, skiing, and snowmobile and ATV trails, including a section of the North Country National Scenic Trail. In addition, the conserved acreage provides globally significant pine barrens habitat for many game and non-game species, including sharp-tailed grouse, white-tailed deer, black bears, woodcocks and numerous migratory songbirds.

The collaboration between the public and private sectors to secure a working forest easement guarantees the sustainable stewardship of the forestland and keeps the property in private ownership and on the tax rolls while supporting local jobs.

Why Do Forests Matter?

We believe that well-managed forests can be both economically viable and ecologically sustainable. But, like all other necessary parts of our national infrastructure, they need to be invested in and maintained. That’s why, since 1985, we’ve protected more than a million forest acres across America. Protecting and maintaining working forests, and the communities that depend on them, remains one of our top conservation priorities.

Learn More

• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
• McKnight Foundation
• The Nature Conservancy