The state, a conservation group and two timber investment companies have agreed to buy about 69,000 acres in northeastern Wisconsin from a paper company, Gov. Jim Doyle announced Wednesday.
The complex deal, called the Wild Rivers Legacy Forest Project, is the largest land conservation purchase in state history in terms of total acreage, state Department of Natural Resources officials said.
The $83.6 million agreement includes three parcels in Florence, Forest and Marinette counties. The property features 48 lakes and ponds as well as 70 miles of rivers and streams and is home to wolves and bears.
"This purchase permanently protects thousands of acres of forest, wildlife habitat and shore land,'' Doyle said in a statement. "Had we not acted, it may have been sold off, piece by piece, and developed - its unspoiled beauty potentially lost to bulldozers and buildings.''
International Paper Co. currently owns the property. The company decided last year to look into selling its 6.4 million acres of forest in the Midwest, the South and the Northeast as it focuses on producing packaging and uncoated paper, spokeswoman Kathleen Bark said.
On Tuesday, the company announced plans to sell 218,000 acres in 10 southern states for about $300 million to The Nature Conservancy, an international nonprofit organization that works to preserve the environment, and The Conservation Fund, another conservation nonprofit outfit.
"Ideally it lets us focus on areas where we can be competitive,'' Bark said.
Under the Wisconsin deal:
-Conservation Forestry LLC, a Massachusetts-based timber investment fund, and Forest Investment Associates, an Atlanta timber investment company, will pay about $44.6 million to own 63,000 acres.
-The state will pay about $33 million out of the state's land stewardship fund. In return the state will own 5,600 additional acres outright and have a conservation easement on 45,000 acres the timber companies own.
The easement will prevent any development and ensure the lands are not broken into individual parcels. It allows the two timber companies to practice sustainable logging, but insures public access for hunting, fishing and hiking.
-The Nature Conservancy will pay $6 million to place the easement on another 14,000 acres the timber companies would own. State officials plan to buy the easement on those acres within a year and a half with money raised through private donations, federal forestry funds and more stewardship dollars.
-The two timber companies would be free to log land not covered by the easement as they wish.
Charley Tarver, founder and president of Forest Investment Associates, called the purchase a win for everyone.
"This is a really nice lick for conservation, this is a really nice lick for the forest industry in the state of Wisconsin and, obviously, we think it's good for our investors,'' he said.
Closing on the deal is set for this summer.Associated Press via Minneapolis Star Tribune
