Partners are working together to finalize the largest forestland conservation project of its kind in Minnesota
June 28, 2006
Forestland in Itasca County, Minnesota
© John Gregor
The Nature Conservancy has partnered with the Trust for Public Land (TPL), Forest Capital Partners and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to protect up to 50,000 acres of working forestland in parts of Itasca and Koochiching Counties.
When completed, the conservation easement will prevent development, provide public access and ensure continued sustainable forest management to provide raw materials, natural resource protection and jobs for the area’s resource-based economy. The DNR will hold and monitor the conservation easement.
“A key aspect of this landmark agreement is that the land will continue to be managed for timber production, continue to provide jobs and revenue for local economies and continue to generate property taxes as private land,” said Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. “It will be open to the public for a wide variety of uses, including hunting, hiking and fishing.”
“For generations, these lands have provided fantastic public access opportunities and a steady stream of wood for our local mills. This agreement ensures that will continue.”
Ron Nargang
Director,
The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota
The proposed conservation lands are located in and adjacent to the George Washington State Forest in northern Itasca County and the Koochiching State Forest in southern Koochiching County.
“Minnesota’s forests are being developed rapidly,” says TPL Minnesota State Director Susan Schmidt, “putting jobs, recreational opportunities, and critical habitats at risk. The Forest Legacy Program is designed to prevent these problems, but it safeguards much more than the land and trees—it protects our way of life in Minnesota.”
Minnesota is facing serious threats from forest fragmentation as many large-scale private industrial forestland owners have put their land on the open market, putting timber-related jobs, public access and wildlife habitat at risk. Protecting large blocks of forestland conserves the vital connection between Minnesota’s healthy forest-based industries and healthy forest ecosystems. The Forest Legacy program is particularly beneficial because it will ensure a large contiguous forested area, thereby retaining the acreage of protected and publicly-accessible forested land for future generations.
This conservation initiative is the latest project for the Minnesota Forest Legacy Partnership, a coalition of partners working to develop innovative strategies to preserve the recreational, economic and ecological resources of the Minnesota’s northwoods. The Partnership includes the Blandin Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Forest Resources Council, The Conservation Fund, Minnesota Forest Industries, the Minnesota Deer Hunter’s Association and The Trust for Public Land. The Forest Legacy Partnership plans to raise $26 million in private and public funds to secure these critical working forest easements.
Recently, the state legislature invested some $7 million in bonding money and $500,000 in Environmental Trust Fund dollars, which will be awarded over the next two years, to the forest conservation effort. The effort leverages private and federal funds available through the Forest Legacy Program.
“We are very pleased to see this agreement move forward,” said Ron Nargang, Minnesota State Director of The Nature Conservancy. “For generations, these lands have provided fantastic public access opportunities and a steady stream of wood for our local mills. This agreement ensures that will continue.”
The Forest Legacy Program was created to keep intact important natural and recreational resources of the nation's dwindling forests and to protect threatened working forests and woodlands with working forest easements. The easements are voluntary agreements in which landowners are compensated for restricting future development and agreeing to sustainable forestry practices on their property while providing that public access for recreational purposes will be insured.
For More Information:
- Where We Work: The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota
Along with partners, businesses, governments, local communities, and people like you, The Nature Conservancy is working to protect important habitats in Minnesota.
- Press Release: Project to Conserve Up to 50,000 Acres of Working Forest
Project to Conserve Up to 50,000 Acres of Working Forest.
- How We Work: Conservation Easements
Conservation easements are one of the most powerful, effective tools available for the permanent conservation of private lands in the United States. The use of conservation easements has successfully protected millions of acres of wildlife habitat and open space, keeping land in private hands and generating significant public benefits.
- Archive of our Saves of the Week and Success Stories
Read more about The Nature Conservancy's work to save the last great places on Earth.
