DNR to lease 3,011 acres of county land
Merilee Reinke
The Daily Telegram
Last Updated: Saturday, September 20th, 2003 12:09:33 AM

A little more than 3,000 acres of county land will be in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ hands for the next 25 years.

This designation comes after the Douglas County Board on Thursday approved a resolution to allow the state agency to lease 3,011 acres of the bird sanctuary or Douglas County Wildlife Management Area lands. Under the previous agreement, the state leased 2,997 acres. The DNR will use the property for the preservation of rare pine barrens.

According to the lease, the DNR will pay $5 per acre between 2003-2007 with a 15 percent increase every five years. Between 2008-2012 the state will pay $5.75, equaling $17,313.25. During the next five-year period the rate will jump to $6.61 per acre and so on.

Over the 25-year lease, the county will earn $101,470.

“I think this is a good lease,” said County Board Chair Doug Finn.

Additional lease requirements include:

• Not selling any of the land while the lease is in effect without giving the state the right of first refusal to purchase;

• The state agrees to work with the county to establish, designate and publicize horse trails;

• Allowing the state to establish closed areas to hunting on leased lands with the number and size of closed locations to be decided by the DNR;

• The county retaining the right to operate recreational trails across leased lands. This includes the Wild Rivers Trail, snowmobile and ATV trails;

• The lease can be renegotiated by written request of either party and all or a portion of it can be terminated with 90 days notice.

A clear message

The County Board killed any hope of having an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) park in the bird sanctuary.

The Land and Development Committee introduced a resolution, which received unanimous support, urging the board to go on record against locating an ATV scramble area somewhere in the 4,000-acre Douglas County Wildlife Management Area.

During negotiations between the county and DNR, discussion arose of whether to place an ATV park in the sanctuary, however, there were as many people against the idea as in favor of it. Because the sanctuary is home to several varieties of plants and animals, as well as a clubhouse, horse corrals and dog trial association facilities, the committee felt an ATV park was inappropriate for the area.

“I think this resolution is important because we just want to send a clear message out there,” Supervisor Dave Conley said. “Clearly it is not our intent to use a section of the bird sanctuary for an ATV park.”

However, people can still ride ATVs in the wildlife area as long as they stay on designated trails, said Dick Moore, Douglas County forestry director. Yet, because the need is there for an ATV scramble area, the county and DNR are presently working together to locate a spot that everyone can agree on.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Telegram.