The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board (NRB) approved a landmark 1,252-acre working forest conservation easement in Vilas County during its Aug. 13 meeting.

The board voted unanimously to acquire the easement, officially naming the newly protected property the Border Lakes Forest Legacy Conservation Easement. The transaction represents a major victory for the state’s efforts to curb timberland fragmentation and safeguard public outdoor recreation.

The Wisconsin DNR will acquire the working forest conservation easement from the Michael A. Uihlein Exemption Trust for a purchase price of $905,900. This will be financed with a combination of funds from the Forest Legacy Grant and the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.

Property amenities

The easement is split across two non-contiguous tracts: the 481-acre Forest Lake tract and the 771-acre Emil Lake tract, which encompasses Emil Lake and a small pond.

In addition to protecting productive pine, aspen, northern hardwoods, and wetlands, the easement guarantees public access for nature-based outdoor activities and protects nearly 3 miles of the Land O’ Lakes Bike and Pedestrian Trail.

The DNR received resolutions in support of the easement acquisition from Vilas County as well as the Town of Land O’ Lakes. The property will be open to the public for all five nature-based outdoor activities including hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking and cross-country skiing.

Strong support

DNR Forest Legacy Coordinator Ron Gropp presented the project to the NRB, noting that the transaction was the culmination of more than two years of coordination. He shared some of his conversations with the landowner, who was eager to finalize the protection of the land.

“Mike (Uihlein) is about 90 years old now... and they’re just really so excited about the ability to protect this property,” Gropp said. “Mike is making good on a promise to protect this land from it being parcelized, sold into smaller chunks. This is a promise that he has agreed to follow through from his parents when he inherited it.”

Under the easement, the land remains on local tax rolls and under private ownership, managed under a sustainable plan. Gropp explained that the Forest Legacy Program, established under the 1990 federal farm bill, focuses on keeping working forests active to support Wisconsin’s $25 billion forestry industry while preventing parcelization.

Gropp highlighted the benefits of conservation easements and explained there has been a decrease in large expanses of properties that are enrolled in the Managed Forest Law, which has led to some of the parcelization that has occurred over the last couple decades. This affects how forests are managed and can have negative impacts on forestry on these parcels.

“Keeping these large tracts of timberland in contiguous chunks in forest production is really important in sustaining our wood products industry in Wisconsin,” he said. “Parcelized land is more challenging and difficult to manage within a broader landscape. Once it’s broken apart, it’s really difficult to put it back together.”

The acquisition was highly praised by Mike Amman, a practicing field forester in northern Wisconsin and the newest member of the NRB.

“As a forester who’s worked in northern Wisconsin who deals with a lot of public lands... we have a lot of historic timber company land that’s really drying up and getting sold,” Amman said. He added that keeping large tracts of timberland intact is critical to preserving public access, saying that those larger tracts are “really a big part of who we are in the north.”

Securing funding

The transaction will be funded with $600,000 from a federal Forest Legacy grant and $305,900 from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program. Gropp explained that the DNR maximized federal Inflation Reduction Act funds by applying the federal grant across both tracts, using Knowles-Nelson stewardship funds to cover the remaining balance.

Real Estate Section Manager Kaylin Helm noted that funds were encumbered before the end date of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, explaining how the defunct program was still funding this property.
NRB member Bill Smith highlighted the strategic importance of the state match.

“The need for state match to make some of these federal projects go and the fact that Knowles Nelson stewardship money was a very important lever here to initiate and be able to use that federal money and do wonderful things for the public here in Wisconsin,” he said.

The Vilas County easement was part of a broader wave of approvals that protected a total of 1,515 acres of land, which also included 77 acres in Oneida County.

The NRB approved a 77.01-acre purchase for the Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area for $231,050, adding 1.5 miles of river frontage to protect the Tomahawk River watershed.

Meanwhile, the DNR bought 118 acres along the Upper Wolf River in Langlade County for $483,000, utilizing $288,000 in Knowles-Nelson funds. The property features 13,000 feet of river frontage, 10 islands, and two class 2 rapids.