Partners in Forestry

Partners in Forestry Landowners Coop (PIF), serving north central Wisconsin and western U.P., is dedicated to providing information, educational opportunities, and sustainable forest management for its members. (Our Mission and Goals)

Trump’s approach has us worried for the future of public lands
By Mike Dombeck, Dale Bosworth, Gail Kimbell, Tom Tidwell, Vicki Christiansen, and Randy Moore
Guest Commentary

Collectively, we have over 200 years of experience in public land management and have served as U.S. Forest Service chiefs under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

We are adamant that divesting our public lands from public ownership would be a grievous error. We encourage all Americans to support the public servants who work for you and, most importantly, the public lands that belong to us and define us as Americans.

This year started with the catastrophic fires in southern California. It is now only spring, and already we have an active fire season across parts of the southeast. Is this a time to dismiss thousands of trained firefighters? Most U.S. Forest Service employees have collateral firefighting jobs and are called on as fire season escalates.

We believe that the current administration’s abusive description of career federal employees is an unforgettable error. These fired employees, we know from experience, represent the best of America. Many gave up other potentially financially lucrative jobs to serve the public interest, many were military veterans. To see them treated the way they have been over the past few months is incompetence at best and mean-spirited at worst.

There was the random firing of some 3,400 probationary Forest Service employees, some with years of experience as seasonal firefighters, others with jobs ranging from managing prescribed fire and fuel reduction, timber sale layout, fish and wildlife habitat improvement to campground maintenance. This was followed by a court order to reinstate the fired employees, who were only soon to be fired again. Additionally, there was the buyout and retirement incentives of another 3,000 employees.

While the exact numbers are changing daily, the chaotic approach resulted in many of the top leaders, including the Forest Service chief and another dozen top agency leaders to leav or be demoted. Further, major reductions in the workforce are expected. The administration has asked USDA to significantly cut more funding and people.

This is occurring while a recent Executive Order calls for the immediate expansion of timber harvest from the National Forests and other federal public lands.

If the White House continues to dismiss the employees who manage the campgrounds, visitor information centers, trails systems for hiking, biking, horseback riding and motorized uses, facilities will have to be closed. The summer vacation season is just around the corner.

Permit holders for animal grazing, oil and gas leases, logging and mining activities will also be affected. It appears the intent is to create a number of crises for the millions of Americans who use the national forests and grasslands for their livelihoods and for their recreation. Rural economies are intertwined with the uses on these lands, bringing millions of dollars to local economies.

Are these drastic actions the first steps toward crippling the agencies so they cannot carry out their Congressionally mandated mission? If so, they portend a cynical effort to divest and transfer federal public lands to the states and private interests.

The national forests are public lands that are owned collectively by all U.S. citizens and managed under the Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act and a host of other laws. These laws allow for responsibly managed oil and gas development, mining, timber harvest, as well as recreation development, untouched wilderness, and many other uses. Most importantly, they are the backyard of families that camp, hike, bike, cut firewood, ski, float rivers, hunt or fish on their public lands without “no trespassing” signs.

More than 60 million Americans get their drinking water from streams that flow from the 193 million acres of national forests. Truly, we have a federal public land system in the U.S. that serves us daily and is the envy of natural resource professionals around the world. Divesture of these precious lands, that belong to all citizens rich and poor, would be an irreparable tragedy.

The first Forest Service Chief Gifford Pinchot famously wrote, “Where conflicting interests must be reconciled, the question shall always be answered from the standpoint of the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run.” We believe the greatest good is keeping the National Forests and all federal public lands in the hands of all citizens for future generations.

The six authors served as U.S. Forest Service chiefs between 1997 and 2025. Mike Dombeck (1997-2001), Dale Bosworth (2001-2007), Gail Kimbell (2007-2009), Tom Tidwell (2009-2017, Vicki Christiansen (2018-2021), Randy Moore (2021-2025). Click here to Read Article

NEW January/February 2025 Newsletter: Celebrate Joe and Mary Hovel, 2024 Land Legacy Award Report; Inflation Reduction Act Funding for Conservation; Owners & Buyers: Beware the Vacant Land Scam; Drill Baby Drill? Or not so fast Donald?; Interesting Links: • Wisconsin Green Fire Report on Wisconsin’s Forest Link • Hemlock Wooly Adelgid Management, You Tube Link • What Makes a Tree a Tree; Speak Softly and Carry a Sharp Quill; Bobcats, from the Cool Down Report; Knowles Nelson Stewardship Funding at Risk; The Art of Communing with Trees; Minnesota Voters Reauthorize Lottery Conservation Funding; Forest Legacy October 2024; Uncommon Ravens; Paul Hetzler’s New Book

NEW BORDER LAKES FOREST LEGACY PROPOSAL
In northern Vilas County, NWA is spearheading two important Forest Legacy projects which will be reviewed by a national USFS panel in Winter 23-24. They both have been submitted under a new category in the program called ‘Family ownerships with greater strategic importance’. For these projects, NWA’s advocacy likely will require providing part of the matching funds to the hopeful Forest Legacy Awards, given the uncertainty of Knowles Nelson Stewardship Fund.
Click here and see how you can help support the Border Lakes Forest Legacy proposal

State organization honors Vilas County couple for ‘tremendous’ leadership in land conservation (WXPR)
Ben Meyer May 08, 2024
Fifteen years ago, a Vilas County husband and wife sold more than a thousand acres of their land to the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest to ensure it would be conserved. That sale sparked a journey in land conservation projects for Joe and Mary Hovel. They’ve now helped conserve, both directly and through their advocacy, tens of thousands of acres in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula.

For their work, the Hovels were named this year’s winners of the Land Legacy Award by Gathering Waters, a leading Wisconsin conservation organization.

PAYMENTS FOR FOREST CARBON: By Alexandra Kosiba. Illustrations by Erick Ingraham.
Many forest landowners are interested in managing their forests for carbon benefits, yet few are able to do so without considering the financial consequences. To address this need, there are emerging opportunities for landowners to be compensated for the carbon sequestered and stored by their forests. Options include selling a forest’s carbon benefits in a carbon offset market, as well as with more traditional programs that pay landowners to implement specific carbon beneficial practices that are not based on selling offsets. Because carbon offset markets are novel, complex, and often confusing, most of this article is devoted to explaining how they work. Click here to read full article.

Forests and Birds, stand diversity important: This study reaffirms the large body of research which concludes that tree species diversity as well as stand structure diversity is key for bird conservation at the landscape level. From this study: “The youngest and oldest age classes of forest are underrepresented in eastern forests, and efforts to increase both of these age classes are necessary for biodiversity conservation” and “The homogeneity of our eastern forests is a well-documented artifact of human land use and suppression of natural disturbances. Increasing diversity through silviculture can help managers meet ecological objectives.” Click here to read full article.

Pilgram River Watershed--Brief Geologic Background: The Pilgrim River closely parallels the Keweenaw Fault (Fig 1), running about 0.5 to about 1 mile S of the fault line, on the sandstone side. It also shows that the river, like many rivers follows a path which takes advantage of a natural zone of weakness. The offset to the south is expected because the sandstone is weaker and more easily eroded than the basalt. The valley is steeper on the Northern side because of the harder basalt rock which underlies that side. On the basalt side are many old mines which are aligned along layers in the basalt where there were copper-rich amygdaloids (lava flow tops). Click here to read full article.

Economic Contributions of Land Conserved by the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Legacy: The Forest Legacy Program (FLP) is a conservation program administered by the USDA Forest Service that seeks to protect traditional forest uses and intact working forest landscapes. The program awards grants that help pay for conservation easements and fee-simple land purchases that are then held by state agencies. Forests conserved using FLP funding not only provide environmental benefits but also must be managed to provide tangible economic and social benefits to the public. Click here to read more about the Forest Legacy Program.

From Barbells to Spruce Grouse: Joe Hovel has written a memoir, which is now available in print. This 238 page book is available with over 20 color images at www.northwoodalliance.org/books
All proceeds from this book will go toward the Headwaters Cedar Community Forest fundraising until that goal is met

Northwoods Alliance Inc. (NWA) and conservation partners are pleased to announce a significant advance toward establishing a Headwaters Cedar Community Forest in the Town of Land O Lakes. The project was recently awarded close to 50% of the funding necessary to complete the community forest, through a successful grant from the USFS Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program. We are grateful that the USFS recognized the conservation value of this project. Click here for more information on this project.

A hike and a fight: Northwoods residents say DNR is violating its logging rules
Read these articles concerning the DNR violations

2. DNR update to logging rules raises alarms for activists: An update to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) rules that guide logging on public lands has raised concerns among activists that the department will allow more trees to be cut down and harm the state’s northern forests. Click here to read more.

2021 Act 230 Makes Changes to Managed Forest Law Statute . The legal requirements of the Managed Forest Law have changed, allowing additional flexibilities to landowners and clarifying DNR administration of the program. The following changes to Ch. 77, Wis. Stats were made when 2021 Act 230 was signed into law on April 8, 2022:

Northwoods Forest Conservation series of handbooks.
We are pleased to share with you the first of two follow up printings to Northwoods Forest Conservation: A Handbook. This booklet sub-titled Celebrating Local Woods & Alternative Forest Products is centered on local woods and seldom thought of benefits from your woodlands. The second follow up will be sub-titled Managing Forests for the Future and will be detailed on forest ecology, by discussing forest fragmentation, bio-diversity, climate threats and management suggestions. Read more about this series of handbooks

Northwoods Forest Conversation -- Practical Advice for Landowners. Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition’s Series “Let’s Talk” livestreamed a conversation with Joe Hovel of Partners in Forestry and the Northwood Alliance. “Let’s Talk” is the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition's (UPEC) livestream program that looks at how we, the people, can build sustainable communities in the UP. The program is a conversation between Joe Hovel and Horst Schmidt, President of UPEC. Hovel talks about Northwoods Forest Conservation: A Handbook, a new, free 66-page publication that provides practical advice for landowners who want to manage their forested property in an ecologically sound way. The handbook shares reflections from northwoods conservation practitioners and landowners, assembles tools and resources for forest conservation, and celebrates completed projects. The handbook is free for the asking (donations gratefully accepted; see links below). Mike Dombeck, a former chief of the U.S. Forest Service, says, “I have not seen a more inspiring, practical, and easy-to-read ‘how-to’ guide to common-sense sustainable forest land conservation practices. Northwoods Forest Conservation: A Handbook is an must-read for all who depend upon and care about forests.” Hovel also talks about other recent projects, such as the new Community Forest at Wildcat Falls.

There is no charge to request the handbook, but donations are welcome to help offset costs. To order, send an email with your name and mailing address to nwa@nnex.net or partnersinforestry@gmail.com, or else call Northwood Alliance at 715-479-8528. To donate visit the Northwoods Alliance website.

NEW Partners in Forestry Cooperative (PIF) and Northwoods Alliance (NWA) are pleased to announce that their most recent project, with assistance from the UW Center for Cooperatives, is now off the printing press. We hope that this booklet will inspire woodland owners, regardless of the size of their forestlands, to further engage in conservation at this critical time.

The Northwoods Forest Conservation Handbook shares reflections from Northwoods conservation practitioners and landowners, assembles tools and resources for forest conservation, and celebrates completed projects. The Handbook is 66 full-size pages, with numerous color photographs of Northwoods forests and landscapes throughout. There is no charge to request this book, but donations are welcome to help offset costs. To donate, visit https://www.northwoodalliance.org/donations or contact us at the phone or email addresses below.

Want to be involved? We are eager to increase our team of dedicated conservationists working for a more sustainable Northwoods future.

See past issues of Partners News for suggestions to visit old growth from the book by John Bates, titled Our Living Ancestors

Protecting your wooded land for the future is essential to clean water, clean air, wildlife habitat, sustainable wood supply...all things that are necessary to society and health, and that are gone forever if the land is developed.