A deal closed last week protects almost 190,000 acres of forestland, the largest land conservation initiative in Minnesota’s history, while the private owner will continue timber management.
The public will have recreational access to almost 190,000 acres of privately owned Minnesota forest thanks to the state’s largest land conservation deal ever and one of the largest east of the Mississippi. The state closed on the $44 million deal with UPM-Blandin Paper Company last week. Coupled with adjacent lands, the purchase protects 4,000 square miles of uninterrupted forest habitat. Instead of buying the land outright — which would entail a far larger purchase price — the state purchased a conservation easement preventing development of the land and opening public access to it, while allowing the company to continue timber management and harvest. The Conservation Fund helped negotiate the easement. The Nature Conservancy was also instrumental.
Large tracts of commercial forestland in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan privately owned but traditionally open to public recreation are increasingly vulnerable to purchase and subdivision for private cabin and resort development. Timber investment management organizations (TIMOs) are snapping up and selling such tracts. Consolidated Paper Company, Potlatch and Boise Cascade have all sold off large Minnesota tracts in the last 20 years.
Conservation easements are regarded as an affordable way to keep the large habitats and recreational lands intact and open to the public. The purchase area includes 60,000 acres of wetlands and more than 280 miles of shoreline along lakes, rivers and streams. David Hartwell, a member of the state’s Outdoor Heritage Council, explained:
“No one wanted to see this vast forestland closed to the public, chopped up into small parcels and sold off to private developers or groups of investors wanting to make a quick profit.”
The majority of funding for the purchase came from Minnesota taxpayers, who contributed about $34 million. Another $9 million came from private sources. The source of the state money is a three-eighths cent statewide sales tax increase approved by voters in November 2008. The deal was not without its critics. A recent newspaper article implied that insiders swung the deal to spend the state money, an insinuation slapped down by other supporters of the purchase.
Photo: The Nature Conservancy
[...] Minnesota Finalizes Largest Land Conservation Deal Ever [...]