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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 3/11/2024 BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING March 11, 2024 County Board Room Members Present: Fred Strand (by Teams); Jeffrey Silbert; Steve Sandstrom; Larry Fickbohm, Charly Ray Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Deanna Regan, Office Manager Others in Attendance: Joseph LeBouton, WI DNR; Vicki Alldritt, Wild Ones 1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting. This meeting was called to order at 6:03 PM. 2. Public Comment: None. 3. Approval of the January 8th Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Sandstrom, Fickbohm) Approve minutes and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 4. Monthly Reports. a) Forestry (all updates). The unseasonably warm winter is impacting logging crews. They are unable to complete sales with frozen ground requirements and are forced into logging in sandier soils earlier than normal. Timber sale extension letters will be going out in April, and Bodine will likely recommend offering free one-year extensions on all timber sales that have some level of frozen ground requirement. This approach has already been adopted by the DNR and many other counties are following suit. We are working on a second project for the next round of the Enbridge EcoFootprint grant funds, likely in the $40,000 range, which are due at the end of March. We are considering an inventory and condition report on roads located within various south shore stream watersheds as part of a slow the flow initiative. A repair component as well as a partnership with Trout Unlimited could also be included. We are starting to find more unauthorized uses of county forest land, including what my end up being more significant trespasses. Among these are continued illegal birch pole harvesting in the peninsula and Iron River. a. 2024 Budget. Stumpage returns were well above normal in February at nearly $393k. March returns have already reached nearly $332k, bringing the Q1 total for stumpage returns to just under a million in revenue. Q1 was the strongest quarter in 2023 and this year appears to be following the same pattern. Expenses are on target. b. Carbon Project. No new sales to date, but 6600 carbon credits have been sold to 7 different buyers so far for a total of nearly $140k. We are currently transitioning the project to IFM Protocol 2.1, which will ultimately improve viability without any significant changes to our requirements. c. Land Acquisition Projects. We continue to work with Landmark on the Iron River and Whittlesey Creek projects. We are also in the process of fine-tuning an internal priority list/future protocol for land acquisition projects. We recently met with Landmark to discuss future collaborative options which could include joint outreach, shared resources, contractual services, etc., with the goal of finding common interests and pooling resources. With a strong conservation partner like Landmark, the better our chances of developing successful projects. d. DNR ARPA Grant. Reimbursement for the Bark River project arrived last month. We now have $1.45 million in the land acquisition account as well as a balance of roughly $267k on the ARPA Bayfield County Forestry & Parks Committee March 11, 2024 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 3 grant. These remaining funds must be used by the end of the year or they will be lost. Two eligible land acquisition projects have recently surfaced and will be discussed as part of item 5. e. Interpretive Signs. The designer from Sturgeon Bay has agreed to work with us on the development of an interpretive sign. Bodine hopes to have a draft ready in a few months. f. County Comp Plan Action Items. Mark has asked everyone to be aware of the action items in the comprehensive plan that pertain to their department. Bodine plans to create a list of every goal, objective, and action where Forestry is listed as a responsible party, along with targeted timelines. g. WI Chapter of the Wildlife Society, Special Service Recognition Award. Mike Amman has worked tirelessly to help elevate our barrens management to the next level. His advocacy and passion for the barrens are inspiring. Recently he was nominated for and received the above award. Super proud of Mike and his achievements and very pleased that he has been recognized for his accomplishments! b) Campgrounds and Day Use Parks. This might be the first season in a while where we can accomplish spring projects before the campgrounds open. We may be able to complete the second round of retaining wall replacement at Twin Bear, as well as some additional site upgrades, before campers start showing up. a. Native Plant Demonstration Garden – Siskiwit Property. We continue to collaborate with a local chapter of Wild Ones to explore the potential of creating a native plant demonstration garden at the Siskiwit property, which would be located between the primary parking area and the trail head. This is a relatively small area, but large enough to facilitate a nice demonstration garden with informational signs about each plant and a bench. The county would assist in site development and purchasing the plants (many of which would come from a local nursery), but the Wild Ones volunteers would plant and maintain the garden. b. Pigeon Lake. Bodine recently toured the Pigeon Lake property with members of the Forest Service and Kelly Westlund. Exploring opportunities to improve some of the structures to potentially house federal employees. Rec is also still on the table. c. Campground Rules and Regulations. We are in the process of reviewing and potentially revising some campground rules and regulations as well as a review of the ordinances. c) Trails and Recreation. a. Motorized Trails. There will not be a snowmobile season this year. We are still active on various trail maintenance and upgrade projects. We are continuing to work with Auxilium North on the development of a routine inspection of all motorized rec trail bridges. Also working on the next round of motorized grant applications which are due around the middle of April. b. Non-Motorized Trails. BATS volunteers completed the initial maintenance pruning of the old orchard on the Siskiwit property, with Fred Erickson, from Erickson’s Orchards, providing the training. We’ll be working with Highway to chip the massive pile of branches since those trees hadn’t been pruned in over 30 years. c. Yurts. Rentals have been fairly strong this winter, especially considering the lack of snow. We also had one of our more significant incidents at one of the yurts last week. One of the renters accidentally set fire to the deck and step leading into the Evergreen yurt. Fortunately, they caught it in time and put it out. We had to replace 4 deck boards and some of the framing around the step with total damage amounting to $315. The renter has already reimbursed the county. d. Events. Nothing new to report. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Ray) Receive reports as presented and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. Bayfield County Forestry & Parks Committee March 11, 2024 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 3 5. Land Acquisition. There are two potential land acquisition opportunities in the Town of Bell. The first has been discussed numerous times and is the other 160-acre parcel on Lost Creek #2 (now owned by Bluesource/Aurora). Bodine is meeting with Aurora again this Friday to discuss price. If favorable, the next step would be to order an appraisal. This project would be eligible for the remaining ARPA funds and also has interest from WI Coastal Management, who have indicated a willingness to assist on a land acquisition project if they have funds remaining after their upcoming award cycle. The second opportunity is privately owned and contains nearly ½ mile of frontage on the Siskiwit River. This property would also be eligible for ARPA funds and WI Coastal maintains a similar interest. The landowner had previously listed the property but has pulled the listing and wishes to work with us/Landmark on a potential future purchase. The next step on this property would also be to order an appraisal. Both properties would make excellent additions to the county forest. Both contain significant riparian features, diversity of unique natural resources with high conversion value, would improve public use and accessibility, and have a high risk of development/fragmentation. Pending the results of the appraisal (because of the proximity of the properties, they may be able to be combined into one), it would have to be determined which property would be the best fit for the remaining ARPA funds (which need to be used by the end of the year), and if Coastal still has money available, which one to present to them for potential funding. Depending on appraisal values and availability of money from Coastal, it’s likely that one of these parcels could be completely covered with grant funding. If it is decided to pursue both, the other could be purchased with a portion of the cash balance in the land acquisition account. MOTION: (Sandstrom, Fickbohm) Proceed with appraisals on both properties. All: Yes. Carried. 6. Equipment Rental Agreement. When we purchased the roller chopper, there was/is a high level of interest from regional public land managers who also maintain barrens habitat and would like to use the machine. The DNR and Forest Service have both expressed an interest in renting when available. The chopper arrived last week and the DNR would like to use it as soon as possible, primarily on the Motts Ravine property in Douglas County. Sharing this machine with other public land property managers was always viewed as a priority. This equipment rental agreement allows that to happen and assesses a low rental fee based primarily on anticipated future maintenance costs, which are expected to be extremely low. Bodine recommends approval of the rental agreement, which can be modified in the future as needed. MOTION: (Ray, Sandstrom) Approve Equipment Rental Agreement. All: Yes. Carried. 7. Committee Members Discussion. None. 8. Joseph LeBouton, DNR Representative, Comments: None The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting has been scheduled for Monday, April 8th, at 6:00 PM in the EOC. Meeting adjourned at 6:58 PM. Submitted by, Deanna Regan