HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 4/12/2021
BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT
COMMITTEE MEETING
April 12, 2021
County Board Room
Members Present: Fred Strand, Chairperson; Jeffrey Silbert, Steve Sandstrom, David Zepczyk
Members Not Present: Larry Fickbohm
Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Lindley Mattson, Office Manager; Steve Probst, Assistant
Administrator, Charly Ray; County Board Member
Others in Attendance: Tessa Levens
1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting.
This meeting was called to order at 6:03pm.
2. Public Comment: Tessa Levens, Town of Russell resident, spoke about two concerns she has. One: she
would like to have Bayfield County Forestry start considering some alternative logging methods. In
addition, would like Bayfield County Forestry to increase setbacks of logging operations from
waterways and trails. Two: A recent logging in her neighborhood greatly effected the Raspberry River
Back Country Hiking Trail. She hopes that the trail will be reestablished.
Chairman Strand asks Jason Bodine or another member of the Forestry and Parks staff to meet with
Tessa to go over the county’s Timber Management practices.
Vice-chair Silbert would like her concerns placed on the agenda to be discussed next month.
3. Approval of the March 8, 2021 Meeting Minutes.
MOTION: (Silbert, Sandstrom) to approve the minutes as presented. All: Yes. Carried.
4. Monthly Reports. Discussion of general activities, events, issues and accomplishments. Possible
action on report(s) only.
a. Forestry (all updates):
a) 2021 Budget. Revenues are exceeding expectations. Revenues were at an all-time high for
March. Also, first quarter revenues were an all time high. Expenses are on track.
b) Carbon Project. Signed a formal agreement. We are now officially in a ten year agreement with
Bluesource. Next week is a meeting to establish the next steps in the process. There is discussion
on using CFI plots for the Carbon inventory. That should save a lot of time and expense. Should
start to see revenues in late 2022.
c) Wildlife Monitoring Project. Capturing birds and banding will happen this month. In total we
hope to band 10-12 birds and track their movements. The breeding bird survey is expected to
kick off end of April, early May.
d) Stewardship Land Acquisition Project. Moving forward with the large Ceres Timber acquisitor
in the Town of Bell. TPL has been notified we made it to second stage of Acres for America
grant. We’ve also started the discussion on the properties near Lost Creek Falls.
e) Timber Professionals Cooperative Survey. Both Consolidated Cooperative and Park Falls
Cooperative are now officially legal entities. This establishes a direct pathway to facilitate
discussions with current mill owners.
f) 2021-2035 Comprehensive Land Use Plan. This week, we received formal notification from the
DNR that the plan was approved. There was a tremendous amount of work from the whole team
on this document.
g) Trespass in the Town of Bayview. Rain has delayed the on-site visit. Rescheduled for later in
the week.
b. Parks (update). Campgrounds are starting to open up. With the rain, it is still to wet to complete any
site work. Target opening is May 8. We are planning to have all facilities (bathrooms, showers) open.
Two seasonal sites remain open at Delta.
c. Trails and Recreation:
a) Motorized Trail Updates: Motorized trails are closed. ATV trails generally open mid May.
Expecting that to be on target.
b) Non-Motorized Trail Updates: A little work to finish up at Siskiwit Falls. We do have some
grant money available for some work at Lost Creek Falls.
c) Yurt Updates: Bodine presented occupancy rates. Dates are being booked as soon as they become
available for fall. Some updates are coming to the yurts this summer and fall.
d) Future Recreation Projects (Stimulus): Bodine put together a summary of potential projects.
e) Events. North End Ski Club submitted requests for their event in May and dates for 2022 events.
Three approved reoccurring events.
d. Delta Landfill Update: More Q & A. New questions are from a different department, so hopefully
this is a good sign.
Some committee discussion some of the items on the monthly report.
MOTION: (Sandstrom, Silbert) Receive and place on file. All: Yes. Carried.
5. Spring Timber Sale Offering
Bodine presented a summary of the spring offering. Attached is a summary of the spring offering,
including copies of all maps and harvest requirements. A total of 32 sales, covering 2,920 acres will be
included in this offering. Of that total, 6 sales and 450 acres are re-offers. Of the re-offers, 2 sales and
129 acres are salvage related. Tract 10-21 was in the summary but has since been has been removed
from this offering.
We are in collaboration with Northland College on a small sale that would include 35-40 storm damaged
trees for their Fish Creek Rehab project. They will be inserted in the stream bank to help stabilize the
bank. This will only bring a small value to the county, but is a unique use for storm damaged trees.
Bodine recommends continuing with the bid opening same as the last two sales. Bids are opened and
summarized in office prior to the committee meeting. The results are brought to the meeting for
approval.
MOTION: (Silbert. Zepczyk) Approve 32 timber sales proposed and use the method described
for opening bids. All: Yes. Carried.
6. 2021 Town Road Aid Projects
Bodine brought two options for distributing these funds. Option 1: the funds are more evenly distributed.
Option 2: Looks at the projects in depth, weighing importance of projects in townships.
Some discussion on a different way to manage this program, instead of evenly distributing funds every
year develop a new process to approve larger projects.
MOTION: (Silbert, Sandstrom) Adopt option one for this year and have further discussion for
future decisions. All: Yes. Carried.
7. 2020 Accomplishment Report
Will be brought to the committee next month.
8. Update to Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan 2020-2024
Resolution was presented to the committee adding two revisions to the LCORP. Across the Pond
Veterans Park and North Pikes Creek/Beaver Hollow Outdoor Education Area. Both entries were
presented to the committee.
MOTION: (Sandstrom, Zepczyk) Approve the resolution with the recommendation to the full
county board. All: Yes. Carried.
9. Joseph LeBouton, DNR – The spring timber sale approval/review process was
The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting has been scheduled for Monday, May 10, 2020 at 6:00
P.M.
Meeting adjourned at 7:23 PM
Submitted by,
Lindley Mattson