Public help for owners of private forestland

The big buck cautiously sniffs the air before venturing down the trail. Gun ready, the hunter waits for the right moment …

This is the daydream of any deer hunter who loves spending time in the woods during Minnesota's deer season.

The daydream, though, is under threat. Like any natural resource, Minnesota's forest habitat is being squeezed by development. Meanwhile, the quality of the state's water is being compromised by erosion and runoff. Even though Minnesota benefits from a large portion of protected county, state and federal lands, private forest ownership is an equally important but often overlooked piece in Minnesota's conservation puzzle.

More than 40 percent of Minnesota's forests are privately owned, according to Gary Michael, the state's Private Forest Management Coordinator for the DNR. "Private landowners who actively manage their woodlands are vital to not only fish and wildlife populations but to the forest products industry and forest health," he said.

Many of these landowners love to hunt. They are willing to pay property taxes on remote lands with poor access. They put up with rutted roads. They work hard to plant trees or thin their stand in an effort to enhance habitat and keep development to a minimum — all for the chance to get that buck.

"It's been a labor of love for over 20 years," said Denny Suelflow of Sauk Centre of his 120 acres. "The DNR's Woodland Stewardship plan showed us which trees to cut and which to plant to enhance the land for wildlife. They also helped with the cost of building two ponds without inhibiting our creeks or swamps. We now have more deer, turkeys and wildlife than were here when we bought the land. And we are still able to operate an elk farming operation on the property."

Mark Herwig, editor of the Minnesota-based Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever journals, owns 44 acres of woodland near Duluth. Like Suelflow, Herwig manages his land in cooperation with public agencies, yet he still manages to profit financially from his ownership.

Public benefits start to stack up when private forestlands stay forested and are managed proactively. Dan Steward, Board of Water and Soil Resources conservationist in Brainerd, spells it out:

"First, land stays on the tax rolls, supporting local government. Second, forest habitat isn't fragmented into small pieces. Third, water quality benefits because forests produce very little runoff. Fourth, the forest industry benefits because larger tracts of forest land are much more efficient to manage."

Steve Hughes, district manager of the Aitkin County Soil and Water Conservation District, agrees with the concept of keeping forested lands forested.

"Sometimes the land is allowed to mature without management, or it is managed to some level for forest products and wildlife. Either option maintains the land as productive forest and protects it from residential subdivision or retail development. The motives for maintaining forestland are secondary to the fact that the forestland remains."

Hughes and his wife, Julie, are private forest landowners in north-central Minnesota. Their 52 acres are their "little slice of heaven," he said.

As of yet, there are no public programs that completely offset the expense of managing private woodlands. For example, siblings Dan and Mike Tonder own 70 acres in Morrison County along with their extended family. "Implementing an effective stewardship plan is expensive in terms of direct costs such as trees, seed, equipment for land prep, and weed and invasive control," Dan said. "A well-thought-out incentive plan that encourages landowners to practice good stewardship while retaining their private ownership and recreational use rights would go a long way toward encouraging more people to do the same."

Despite challenges, collaborative public and private forest management is not just good policy, it can also make deer hunting daydreams a reality.

As Herwig observed: "The land keeps on giving, and those of us who take from it must give back. It's an unspoken contract carried on the wind that hunters, more than some, hear most clearly."