SPRING GREEN - Question 61, on the agenda for the Department of Natural Resources/Wisconsin Conservation Congress spring hearings in April, came under fire at a WCC District Nine meeting Tuesday night in Spring Green.
The question pertains to the Managed Forest Law, a state program that seeks to provide sustainable forests for future use, as well as offer important environmental benefits. According to Wisconsin Statute 77.80 the purpose of MFL relates to "the management of private forest lands for the production of future forest crops for commercial use through sound forestry practices, recognizing the objectives of individual property owners, compatible recreational uses, watershed protection (and the) development of wildlife habitat."
The proposed question reads: "Do you support legislation that would require all future Managed Forest Law (MFL) contracts to allow public access as currently defined in state statute?"
The impetus for addressing the issue comes from pressure to open more land to the public for hunting. Larrie Hazen, chair of the WCC Public & Private Land Use Committee, said his committee was trying to address the problem of big private companies in northern Wisconsin who have their land enrolled in MFL and then derive huge profits from leasing out the land.
A good idea in principle, opponents say, but the end result could mean the demise of the MFL program. Several WCC members voiced their opposition, as did DNR foresters.
Landowners will be reluctant to put their land in the program if they can't control who comes on the property, asserted WCC District Nine chairman Mike Rogers of Prairie du Sac.
"I know I wouldn't," he said.
John Nielsen, forestry area leader stationed in Dodgeville agreed. He envisions a drastic reduction in the number of landowners willing to enroll their land in the program as an "unintended consequence."
"This is the best program we have to meet the need for forest products in the future," Nielsen said. He also referenced erosion control, water quality and improved wildlife habitat as added benefits of the program.
Officials of the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association, representing more than 2,300 private landowners, have also weighed in.
"We don't support it," said WWOA executive director Nancy Bozek.
Unlike some other government programs, she says, landowners have to spend from $1,000 to $1,500 to put a management plan together, spend more time and money to comply with the plan and then pay a yield tax when the timber is harvested.
What members of the conservation community may not know is that MFL lands are being hunted, Bozek said.
"Many landowners who invite relatives or friends onto their property to hunt have land in the program," she asserts.
In a letter to the Natural Resources Board, WWOA president Merlin C. Becker also maintains that hunting is the most popular recreational activity on MFL land. In addition, Becker points out in the letter, "$1 million from MFL lands closed acre fees will be appropriated to the new Forestry Outdoor Activity Fund Program for land acquisition or easements to increase public access."
"Everyone benefits by having large blocks of sustainable forests in their communities," Bozek added.
Landowners and other members of the conservation community may weigh in on this and other questions at the spring hearings scheduled throughout the state on Monday, April 14, at 7 p.m. For locations in each county, call the Wisconsin Conservation Congress liaison office at (608) 266-2952 or go to http://dnr.wi.gov/org/nrboard/congress/springhearings/
- Lee Fahrney is a delegate to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress from Iowa County. He can be reached at (608) 967-2208 or at fiveoaks@mhtc.net.
The question pertains to the Managed Forest Law, a state program that seeks to provide sustainable forests for future use, as well as offer important environmental benefits. According to Wisconsin Statute 77.80 the purpose of MFL relates to "the management of private forest lands for the production of future forest crops for commercial use through sound forestry practices, recognizing the objectives of individual property owners, compatible recreational uses, watershed protection (and the) development of wildlife habitat."
The proposed question reads: "Do you support legislation that would require all future Managed Forest Law (MFL) contracts to allow public access as currently defined in state statute?"
The impetus for addressing the issue comes from pressure to open more land to the public for hunting. Larrie Hazen, chair of the WCC Public & Private Land Use Committee, said his committee was trying to address the problem of big private companies in northern Wisconsin who have their land enrolled in MFL and then derive huge profits from leasing out the land.
A good idea in principle, opponents say, but the end result could mean the demise of the MFL program. Several WCC members voiced their opposition, as did DNR foresters.
Landowners will be reluctant to put their land in the program if they can't control who comes on the property, asserted WCC District Nine chairman Mike Rogers of Prairie du Sac.
"I know I wouldn't," he said.
John Nielsen, forestry area leader stationed in Dodgeville agreed. He envisions a drastic reduction in the number of landowners willing to enroll their land in the program as an "unintended consequence."
"This is the best program we have to meet the need for forest products in the future," Nielsen said. He also referenced erosion control, water quality and improved wildlife habitat as added benefits of the program.
Officials of the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association, representing more than 2,300 private landowners, have also weighed in.
"We don't support it," said WWOA executive director Nancy Bozek.
Unlike some other government programs, she says, landowners have to spend from $1,000 to $1,500 to put a management plan together, spend more time and money to comply with the plan and then pay a yield tax when the timber is harvested.
What members of the conservation community may not know is that MFL lands are being hunted, Bozek said.
"Many landowners who invite relatives or friends onto their property to hunt have land in the program," she asserts.
In a letter to the Natural Resources Board, WWOA president Merlin C. Becker also maintains that hunting is the most popular recreational activity on MFL land. In addition, Becker points out in the letter, "$1 million from MFL lands closed acre fees will be appropriated to the new Forestry Outdoor Activity Fund Program for land acquisition or easements to increase public access."
"Everyone benefits by having large blocks of sustainable forests in their communities," Bozek added.
Landowners and other members of the conservation community may weigh in on this and other questions at the spring hearings scheduled throughout the state on Monday, April 14, at 7 p.m. For locations in each county, call the Wisconsin Conservation Congress liaison office at (608) 266-2952 or go to http://dnr.wi.gov/org/nrboard/congress/springhearings/
- Lee Fahrney is a delegate to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress from Iowa County. He can be reached at (608) 967-2208 or at fiveoaks@mhtc.net.
