_First phase of historic
land conservancy completed

Includes land in Washburn, Polk, Burnett and Bayfield counties

by Gary King
Leader editor
NORTHERN WISCONSIN - The first phase of a two-phase land conservation agreement was completed Friday, Aug. 31, a deal that protects more than 100 square miles of forest land in four counties - including Washburn.
Upon completion of the second phase - in 2014 - the agreement will become the largest land conservation purchase in Wisconsin history, with the Department of Natural Resources spending $17.3 million on a conservation easement for 67,347 acres of property in Douglas, Washburn and small portions of Bayfield and Burnett counties.
The property was owned by Wausau Paper Corp. which sold 72,800 acres to Lyme Timber in late 2011 for $37 million.
Under the first phase of the purchase, 45,000 acres, to be known as the Bruce-St. Croix Legacy Forest - will remain privately-owned by Lyme Timber, a New Hampshire-based company, and remain on the tax rolls.
In exchange for conservation easement payments, the company agrees to keep the land “forever undeveloped” and open to public access, including hunting, fishing and hiking.
Lyme Timber will manage timber production on the land.
The funds for the project come from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, a public-private partnership that currently provides $60 million a year to secure critical wildife habitat, conserve “the best of outdoor Wisconsin” and provide consistent world-class outdoor recration opportunities.
The fund was named after two governors - Warren Knowles and Gaylord Nelson.  It has protected more than 500,000 acres of Wisconsin land since its inception in 1989.
This most recent conservancy project was announced earlier this year and endorsed by DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp.
“This purchase provides much-needed recreational access for the public to hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, skiing, bird-watching, and ATV and snowmobile trails,” she said. “It keeps the land in private ownership, generating property taxes and helping keep Wisconsin’s forestry industry strong.”
The agreement not only prevents the land from being divided and sole for recreational peroperty such as cabins and second homes but it protects habitat for countless species such as the Karner Blue butterfly, golden winged warbler, sharp-tailed grouse, black bear, deer, wolves, Canada lynx, woodcock and migratory songbirds.
The area contains much of the last remaining unprotected globaclly-significant Pine Barrens which provides critical habitat for several threatened or endangered species.
The first phase of the project will cost approximately $11.3 million.  The second phase, in 2014, will cost $6 million and involve approximately 23,000 acres of land.
Peter Stein, managine director of Lyme Timber, said that about 1,000 jobs in northern Wisconsin - both directly and indirectly - will be created and sustained by keeping the land for forest use.  His company provides wood for 12 pulp, saw timber, utility pole nad supporting companies in the region. - with information from Milwaukee Journel-Sentinel, Duluth News-Tribune

Phase 1 of the largest land conservancy in state history includes land in northwest Washburn County. - Coutesy The Conservation Group/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel