Protecting Pinelands Sands Aquifer Forestlands - Phase II
Protect up to to 1,500 acres of at risk, priority forest habitat adjacent and near the Crow Wing River that will consolidate and link public forestland parcels, provide management and recreational access and protect surface and ground water quality.
This project protected with fee acquisition 1,306 acres of priority forestland and associated habitats in west-
central Minnesota in an area of significant deforestation as a result of conversion of forests to irrigated agriculture.
The project focused on habitat protection within a core area along and nearby the Crow Wing River in an area that
also includes the Huntersville State Forest, Crow Wing Chain Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Hunterville WMA,
Burgen Lake Prairie WMA, Menahga WMA and Yaeger WMA. Habitats protected include pine, oak, and aspen
forests, brushlands, and wetlands. Some river river frontage along the Crow Wing was included; the Crow Wing
River is one of the state's best river routes for canoeists, with many rustic campsites and miles of undeveloped
wooded shoreline. Parcels acquired are now managed by the appropriate DNR Division as State Forests and
Wildlife Management Areas. This is an important public use area that provides a wide range of public recreational
opportunities including hunting, hiking, fishing, canoeing, trail riding and camping.
The project protected properties containing high conservation and natural resource values as determined by a
team of area staff who used a science based assessment to evaluate resource values on the various tracts. Values
considered in the assessment included shoreline habitat, wildlife habitat, terrestrial ecological importance,
groundwater protection, watershed protection, access, trails, forest consolidation and forest productivity. The
parcels were further evaluated based on their threat of conversion to agriculture using the following criteria:
topography, soil drainage, proximity to other irrigated agricultural land, size of parcel and soil survey data.
The project implemented the Minnesota State-Wide Conservation and Preservation Plan priorities to "protect large
blocks of forestland" and to "improve connectivity and access to recreation". In addition, it supported other
priorities including the "protection of priority land habitats", "protection of critical shoreland of streams and lakes"
and "supports and expands sustainable practices on working forest lands". The project also addressed two of the
priority actions listed in the Outdoor Heritage Fund: A Twenty Five Year Framework for the Northern Forest
Section. The project was completed with the involvement and support of County Land Departments and County
Boards.
$2,180,000 in the first year is to the commissioner of natural resources to acquire forest lands in Cass and Wadena Counties for wildlife management purposes under Minnesota Statutes, section 86A.05, subdivision 8, and to acquire land in fee for state forests under Minnesota Statutes, section 86A.05, subdivision 7. A list of proposed land acquisitions must be provided as part of the required accomplishment plan.
1,306 Forest acres Protected in Fee with State PILT Liability.
General Fund