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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 10/13/2025 BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING October 13, 2025 County Board Room Members Present: Fred Strand; Steve Sandstrom (by Teams) Larry Fickbohm; Charly Ray; Jeff Olsen Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Deanna Regan, Office Manager Others in Attendance: Joseph LeBouton, WI DNR; Sue Rosa, County Board Member; Tom Stankard, Daily Press 1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting. This meeting was called to order at 6:03 PM. 2. Public Comment: None. Public comment closed at 6:03 PM. 3. Approval of the September 8th Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Olsen) Approve minutes and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 4. Fall Timber Sales. There are 19 new timber sales offered, totaling 1,460 acres as well as 5 re-offers that total 557 acres for a grand total of 24 sales covering 2,017 acres. Pretty standard fall offering. MOTION: (Olsen, Ray) Approve 2025 Fall Timber Sale Offering. All: Yes. Carried. 5. Resolution: Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Grant Application for the Acquisition of County Forest Land. We have an accepted offer on the Peterson/Gehrls property; 80 acres surrounded by county forest land, the last remaining private land frontage on Carroll Lake. This property has been on our high priority list for a long time. Next steps are to get Committee and Board approval to apply for a Stewardship grant, then order the appraisal and seek support from the Town of Hughes. MOTION: (Sandstrom, Ray) Forward to Board with recommendation for approval. All: Yes. Carried. 6. Recreational Use Agreement. American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF). The ABSF rec use agreement has been updated following the same format as other recently updated agreements Still working on an updated map that will be attached to the agreement. ABSF has already reviewed and has approved. They continue to be one of our most important rec partners. Bodine recommends approval. MOTION: (Olsen, Fickbohm) Approve Recreational Use Agreement. All: Yes. Carried. 7. Monthly Reports. a) Forestry. a. 2025 Budget. Just under $180k in stumpage returns were received in September, a little above the three-year average. Traditionally September is the slowest month of the year in terms of stumpage revenue. Nearly $2.92 million has been received to date. Revenue is slightly over $1.0 million less than this time last year, but we’re projecting returns to end between $3.6-$3.8 million, which would exceed the budget. Expenses are on target. b. 2026 Budget. A few more adjustments were made to the 2026 budget, this time focusing on capital requests. The replacement ATV was eliminated from the budget but will be pursued again in 2027. The campground infrastructure assessment item was reduced by $10k. c. Carbon Project. We continue to work with ANEW on potential large projects. Otherwise, nothing new to report. d. Forestry Revitalization Act. In the news recently was state legislation targeting the support of a proposed sustainable aviation fuel (biofuel) facility in Hayward. When fully operational, the facility would utilize nearly 900,000 tons (~400,000 cords) of wood fiber to make the biofuel. It’s also estimated to have a $1.0+ billion impact on the local economy. Woody biomass or Bayfield County Forestry & Parks Committee October 13, 2025 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 3 logging residue is being pitched as the primary source of wood. At this time, it’s unclear how much roundwood would be used or the preferred species mix. If it happens, this would be a substantial new market. Being staged in Hayward, this would have a direct impact on our program, especially if they take a significant percentage of roundwood. Will be interesting to see how a new timber market like this influences a carbon project. e. UWSP Forest Products Week Tour. The tour is slated to happen on Oct 21, from 8:30-12:30. BART buses have been reserved. So far, only 4 registrations. If we don’t get enough registrants, the tour will be canceled. f. Landmark Conservancy – Partner of the Year. Last month, we were recognized by Landmark Conservancy as their partner of the year. We’ve formed a special and unique relationship over the last decade, supporting the other’s projects and working together to achieve common goals. An honor to be recognized. They do phenomenal work. g. Other Land Acquisition Projects. The 125 acre Siskiwit River (Picard) property is scheduled to close on Oct 17. Highlights of other land acquisition projects below: i. Stewardship – Round 2. The 80 acre Carroll Lake property highlighted above is the first confirmed project from this latest round of outreach. In total, roughly 40 property owners were included in this round. We’re following up with three landowners who responded to the letter, as well as calling back those who had some interest last time. If other projects look promising, there could be additional Stewardship applications. ii. Whittlesey Creek. We continue to work with Landmark Conservancy on this potential 160 acre purchase in the Town of Barksdale. The landowner appears to have rescinded their offer of a bargain sale, which would equal about $23k. The county recently approved allocating $28k to this project. Landmark is in negotiations with the landowner. If the landowner rejects the counteroffer, the project is likely terminated. h. WCFA Board Member Update. WCFA is still very active with legislature. They are not raising dues for next year but will increase them in 2027. b) Parks and Recreation. a. Seasonal camping selection for Twin Bear and Delta Lake campgrounds was successfully completed a few weeks ago. A total of 22 seasonal sites were available at Twin Bear and 17 at Delta Lake. Currently, 2 seasonal sites remain at Twin Bear and 4 at Delta Lake, which is normal. Campgrounds will close on October 19. b. All three motorized grants have been tentatively approved by the DNR. This includes work on the railroad trestle bridge in Grand View, a new snowmobile trail/logging bridge over the Ounce River in Barnes, and a new ATV trail to Pagac’s. Contracts haven’t been signed yet but are expected to be received soon. Work on the trestle bridge is expected to be the most complicated and will require a significant level of background work before moving forward. c. Beginning work with SAS to develop plans for Big Rock, Topside Lake and Fire Hill. Still in the very early stages but anticipate an uptick in activity soon. d. Sara attended the Landmark Conservancy annual meeting in Eau Claire on September 24. While on the road, she also visited Eau Claire County’s Coon Fork County Campground, where they are installing 2 rental camper cabins. These cabins are expected to be online by Nov 1, were built by local high school students on skids and are being finished by the Forestry and Parks staff. The cabins will have electricity, heat and Wi-Fi, and will be able to sleep 6. e. Recreation staff is also working with the Health Department and community partners to place “Tick Warning” signs at trailheads throughout the county. f. Sara attended the Wisconsin Parks and Recreation Association's (WPRA) Fall Workshop in Onalaska. She participated in a 1-day Sustainable Trails Planning, Design, Construction, and Maintenance Class put on by Rock Solid Trail Builders. Participants spent the morning in the classroom and in the afternoon visited the new Grandad’s Bluff trails system, seeing what they learned put into action. The 2nd day was spent touring 5 of their 26 parks. g. Sara is participating in the Bayfield Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan committee. The kickoff meeting was held on Sept 22. h. As a former participant of the Climate Champions Program hosted by UW-EX, Sea Grant, and Lake Superior Estuary Reserve, Sara is now working with this program to create an interpretive sign plan for the Forestry and Parks Department. The goal of this plan is to: 1) create design standards that can be used on all County Forestry and Parks areas 2) create Bayfield County Forestry & Parks Committee October 13, 2025 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 3 basic language that will appear on all signs with a space to place specific (place based) language 3) create concept plans for 4 sites: Siskiwit Falls, Glacial Kettles, Barrens and Big Rock 4) creation of a sign for a barrens project. i. The County received funding to assist with transportation for the UWSP Forest Products Tour. j. Nick has been in the woods tackling some overdue projects on motorized trails. After a BMP water quality class and an onsite visit/training with the local DNR Forest Hydrologist, rehab work was completed on a very wet and erosion prone section of snowmobile trail in the peninsula. The trail was then seeded by Forestry and Highway staff with our new hydro seeder. Gates were installed to keep all non-snowmobile traffic out. k. In the process of completing a significant level of maintenance and improvement work on the Wally Polk trail. l. Recently completed the 5-year partnership agreement with the Forest Service to maintain ATV/UTV and snowmobile trails on federal land. Becoming more familiar with trails on federal land, as well as the workloads required to maintain them. m. Snowmobile Alliance meetings have started back up, which brings another list of to-do’s before winter. There are a few trail reroutes in process. Some require attention before the start of this season, while others need a bit more planning before next season. n. Yurt occupancy in Cable for October is only slightly below the Bayfield Yurts. o. Events. Nothing new to report. Committee acknowledges that reports are received and placed on file. 8. Committee Members Discussion. None. 9. Joseph LeBouton, DNR Representative, Comments: None. The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting has been scheduled for Monday, November 10th, at 6:00 PM in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Meeting adjourned at 7:05 PM. Submitted by, Deanna Regan