Agreement Narrative: Protection/Enhancement of Public Land Forest Habitats Through Strategic Acquisition of Private Land Inholdings
Primary Funder: Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Fund through Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage Council (LSOHC)
Location: Northern Minnesota. Northern Forest Ecoregion.
Innovation:
Increase existing public land management efficiency and effectiveness as well as public recreational access through strategic private land inholdings acquisition. Acquisition of private lands and transfer to adjoining public land manager will be pursued where best management and access routes are inhibited by private land inholdings and where consistency in landscape scale management can be improved.
Investment in public land acquisitions of large forested tracks in northern MN have received resistance from the Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, MN state legislators, and multiple local county governments. Concerns over surplus of public land, reduction of property taxes, loss of economic development opportunity, and cost burden and logistics of managing more public land have led to a stall in more public land acquisitions funded through the Outdoor Heritage Fund. What makes RGS & AWS’s Strategic Land Acquisition Project innovative is that the intent is to increase efficiencies for public lands agencies to manage existing lands. This will be accomplished through permanently acquiring small land inholdings within larger public land complexes. This will aid in securing management access of acquired and adjacent parcels, reducing maintenance of property boundaries, reducing road maintenance costs, and increase forest/habitat management options for public land managers. It is for these reasons, RGS & AWS have gained support from local public lands managers and units of government for our aided approach.
Impact:
- Acquire 280 acres in Fee and transfer to state.
- Acquire 280 acres in fee and transfer to county or US Forest Service
- Enhance habitat attributes prior to transfer on 140 acres.
Completed To-Date (8/1/23):
- Grant Contract Draft Offered For Signature.
- Initial outreach to potential land management agency partners to inform of this grant and begin to identify and prioritize known acquisition opportunities has been done in advance and since notification of grant contract draft.
- Presented opportunity and initiated county support through attendance and presentation to Minnesota Association of Land Commissioners, presentation and communication with several County Commissioners and specific parcel discussions with County staff.
- Communication of opportunity with Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Forestry and Fish and Wildlife leadership.
- Communication with potential partner non-profits including The Conservation Fund and North Country Trail Alliance.
Completed To-Date (2/15/24):
- Site specific opportunities communicated with and three initial RGS parcel site visits completed with MN DNR Forestry, Lake County, Saint Louis County, Aitkin County, Itasca County.
- Presentation of proposal soliciting local support of potential acquisitions completed with Lake County Board, Aitkin County Board, Aitkin County Natural Resource Advisory Committee
- Executed initial appraisal contract with first viable potential and partner supported acquisition opportunity- an 80 acre parcel owned by Tri-state LLC within Savanah State Forest for eventual transfer to MN DNR Forestry.
- Draft contract for professional support services with The Conservation Fund. Pending approval by LSOHC.
Partners: Any public forest land managing agency in northern Minnesota. MN Department of Natural Resources, US Forest Service, County land departments, The Conservation Fund.
Information on use of LSOHC Logo and communication requirements: https://www.legacy.mn.gov/sidebar-items/legacy-logo
