Minnesota Forests for the Future Phase IV
This Minnesota Forests for the Future project protected 3,293 acres of forest and forested wetlands with perpetual working forest conservation easements in Lake and Crow Wing Counties ensuring public benefits, management access and sustainable managed forests.
Forest land ownership changes within recent years, primarily within the industrial forest ownerships, are occurring as the timber industry restructures and looks to obtain value from their land through real estate sales and recreational leases. These sales can result in forest fragmentation or even outright conversion of forest lands, impact public recreational access including recreational trail routes, affect forest management access by public agencies across the impacted lands, degrade wildlife habitat and decrease the use of sustainable forestry practices.
The current project has targeted two properties: 1) an industrial ownership located in northeastern Minnesota whose property adjoins and is commingled with thousands of acres of other public forests including those owned and managed by the state, Lake County and the Superior National Forest; and 2) a large privately owned publicly accessible property with lake shoreland and other riparian areas adjacent to already permanently conserved easement property located in an area of high forest conversion threat in Crow Wing County.
LSOHC appropriations target priority projects as determined by the scoring criteria developed in consultation with the Minnesota Forests for the Future Advisory Committee (stakeholder group). Projects may need to be scaled back or phased to accommodate the available funding. Each of the two projects included in this report were located within program priority areas as identified by a GIS model that integrates recreational, ecological and economic data.
These projects addressed forest fragmentation, habitat degradation, recreational and management access and sustainable forestry through perpetual conservation easements and fee acquisition that will protect the forest and wetland habitats in perpetuity, restrict forest parcelization and development, provide for public recreational access and public management access and promote sustainable forest management practices.
The Minnesota Forests for the Future and Federal Forest Legacy Programs have proven to be cost effective programs for protecting private forest land habitat in Minnesota, while also providing public recreational and agency management access and ensuring sustainable forestry. These programs have protected over 358,000 acres to date at an average cost of less than $300/acre. Over $24 million in non-state funds have been leveraged for these protection efforts over the past 10 years.
$1,840,000 the second year is to the commissioner of natural resources to acquire forest, wetland, and shoreline habitat through working forest permanent conservation easements under the Minnesota forests for the future program pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 84.66. A conservation easement acquired with money appropriated under this paragraph must comply with Minnesota Statutes, section 97A.056, subdivision 13. The accomplishment plan must include an easement monitoring and enforcement plan. Of this amount, up to $25,000 is to establish a monitoring and enforcement fund as approved in the accomplishment plan and subject to Minnesota Statutes, section 97A.056, subdivision 17. A list of permanent conservation easements must be provided as part of the final report.
Protected 3,293 acres (in easement)