The forested landscapes of northern Wisconsin are a haven for both people and wildlife. Hosting a unique variety of plants and animals of conservation concern and providing ideal habitat for iconic species such as wolves, black bear and bald eagles, these forests are also treasured by outdoor enthusiasts as popular recreational destinations. Moreover, they play an integral role in the state’s timber industry while absorbing carbon dioxide emissions, making them a critical tool in addressing climate change.

Over the past few decades, much of Wisconsin’s industrial forestland has been converted to non-forest uses and subdivided for development, specifically for residential and vacation homes. This conversion ultimately harms the forest’s ecological integrity.

Fortunately, The Conservation Fund was able to secure the largest privately owned unprotected block of forest remaining in Wisconsin with a loan from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, proceeds from our green bonds and additional donations from private foundations and community members. We are working to permanently conserve this forest to support the local timber economy, safeguard wildlife habitat and water quality, and provide public recreational access. 

Our Role

Since our founding, TCF has protected more than 113,000 acres in Wisconsin, including thousands of acres of working forests and farmlands. In October 2021, we purchased 70,000 acres from the Forestland Group, a timberland investment management organization, to safeguard this large, forested landscape.

Our purchase and interim ownership of these lands, now referred to as Pelican River Forest, allows for the development of permanent conservation strategies that will preserve the forest, safeguard jobs and provide year-round public recreational access to hunting and fishing. As part of our strategy, we ensure the land remains privately owned and on local tax rolls while it is managed to provide timber to local mills, safeguard water quality and protect wildlife habitat.

This project is part of our innovative program dedicated to mitigating climate change, Working Forests, which strengthens rural economies and protects natural ecosystems through the permanent conservation of at-risk working forests across America.

Why It Matters

Ensuring the permanent conservation and sustainable management of our existing forests is one of the most effective strategies we have right now to combat climate change. Forests not only store carbon, they also absorb more CO₂ as the trees grow. Pelican River Forest plays an important role in this fight, storing approximately 19 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent, which is comparable to the emissions from 4.1 million passenger vehicles over the course of a year. Over the next five years, the forest is estimated to remove an additional 240,000-640,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from the atmosphere.

Well-managed forests, particularly in upper watersheds, are critical sources of clean water. The 68 miles of streams, 27,000 acres of forested wetlands and dozens of ponds within Pelican River Forest support good water quality in both the upper Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds, which is of vital importance to the health of surrounding communities. Water-based recreation such as boating and angling contributes a significant portion of the nearly $8 billion that outdoor recreation brings to the Wisconsin economy each year.

In addition, our efforts to ensure that this large landscape remains forested and continues to be sustainably managed as working timberland will support the state’s forest products industry, which provides more than 63,500 full- and part-time jobs and generates nearly $25 billion annually in economic output.

Learn More

• Insights: “The Journey to Protect Pelican River Forest”
• Wisconsin Public Radio: “Pelican River Forest protected, some changes made after local government raised concerns”
• Associated Press: “Evers goes around GOP to secure grant for largest land conservation purchase in Wisconsin history”