The state has acquired a conservation easement on almost 14,000 acres of forest in Iron County.
The Twin Lakes Legacy Forest is predominantly northern hardwood, with a mix of other forest types, which used to be owned by a paper company.
As Conservation Fund Midwest Vice President Tom Duffus explains, it was most recently owned by a timber investment group in Brazil.
“So we bought it from that organization to try and stop this trend of private forests becoming smaller and less viable for timber.”
The Conservation Fund purchased the property to facilitate the easement.
The state paid $4.4 million in Knowles-Nelson Stewardship funds to ensure the land is managed for timber harvest, wildlife and recreation in perpetuity.
The Conservation Fund plans to sell the property again now that the conservation easement is in place.
Duffus says the public will now have better access to the property.
“We have provided permanent public use of private woods roads on the property, about ten miles of roads that heretofore really were private and for the hauling of wood only. But it’s very important in our state to provide access for hunters and anglers and birdwatchers and so forth.”
The Twin Lakes property also connects with county and federally-owned forest land.