In 2011, we helped the YMCA of Duluth permanently protect nearly 300 acres at Camp Miller, which supports outdoor opportunities for more than 2,000 youth each year and protects valuable land that has been a top priority for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's Aquatic Management Area Acquisition Program.
For more than a century, the YMCA of Duluth has offered summer resident camps and outdoor, environmental education opportunities for more than 2,000 youth at Camp Miller. The Y’s goal is to provide a positive experience for campers that promotes growth in mind, spirit and body. Through participation in a variety of outdoor recreational and educational activities, kids will gain a sense of key community values including trust, respect, cooperation, teamwork, leadership and independence
During their visit, campers can take part in any or all of the following activities: swimming, canoeing, archery, field sports, kayaking, nature hikes, fishing, sailing, arts-n-crafts, rock climbing, horseback riding, rifle safety and marksmanship and more.
“Permanent conservation of Camp Miller not only provides public access and protection of sensitive resources, but it also will help the Y provide outdoor experiences for youth and adults,” said Tom Duffus, Upper Midwest Director for the Fund, whose office in Duluth provided some funding and assistance to the Y and DNR for this project.
Located near the town of Sturgeon Lake in Minnesota, about 45 miles south of Duluth and two hours north of the Twin Cities, this property is part of the Aquatic Management Area Acquisition Program and was a conservation priority for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
A conservation easement purchased by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will preserve the property’s diverse ecosystems and critical wildlife habitats, including 4,350 feet of sensitive shoreline on Sturgeon Lake, one of the headwaters for the St. Croix River watershed. The 300 acres includes an abundance of high quality, near-shore fishery spawning habitat.
The area’s aquatic resources, ecosystems and associated uplands are crucial to maintaining the state’s clean water legacy and preserving important habitats for a variety of species including white-tail deer, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, bald eagles, salamanders and a variety of songbirds.
The surrounding communities not only will benefit from cleaner water but also can access the land for recreational use. The land will be open in designated areas for activities including fishing, hiking and limited bow hunting.
Photos courtesy YMCA
Iin July 2010 we celebrated the largest conservation deal in Minnesota history. We completed a working forest conservation easement with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Blandin Paper Company (UPM) that forever protects nearly 188,000 acres of Northwoods forests, wetlands and shoreline currently owned by UPM.
Minnesota exemplifies a nationwide trend in forest loss: In the last 20 years the state has lost over a third of its industrial forestland. Over the next 20 years, the U.S. Forest Service estimates that some 26 million acres of private forestland will become housing subdivisions, retail developments, vineyards and other land features nationwide.
The Upper Mississippi Forest project stitches together over 4,000 square miles of public and private forests, conserves over 60,000 acres of wetlands and over 280 miles of stream, lake and river frontage. An additional 1,344 acres was acquired by the DNR to help consolidate existing state forests.
The Upper Mississippi Forest project is the largest conservation project
ever undertaken by the state of Minnesota.
The easement on the UPM lands prevents development and subdivision of the lands and prohibits alteration of water channels, wetlands, streams and rivers. UPM will be required to follow internationally accepted sustainable forest management practices by being certified through the Forest Stewardship Council or Sustainable Forestry Initiative, with auditing by the DNR for compliance.
The Fund helped negotiate the easement and secure private funding for the project, which was completed after ten years of effort. “This project has been over 10 years in the making. Thanks to private donors, who contributed the largest private gift to conservation in state history, and to Minnesota voters who approved the Legacy Amendment, the dream of many to permanently conserve this amazing landscape has been realized," said Tom Duffus, the Fund's upper Midwest director.
Of the $44 million purchase price, $34.25 million came from state appropriations to DNR’s Minnesota Forests for the Future program, generated from the additional sales tax authorized by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment approved by Minnesota voters in 2008. The Fund provided $9.75 million of private funding through a $7 million grant from the Blandin Foundation, a $2 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and a $750,000 grant from Walmart’s Acres for America program with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
The project complements the goals of DNR’s Minnesota Forests for the Future program and is supported by more than 60 local, statewide and national conservation, local government and economic development organizations, including the Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, Minnesota Land Trust, Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, Minnesota Forest Industries and Minnesota Forest Resources Council.
In a landmark conservation deal, Minnesota has taken a major step to protect valuable wildlife habitat in its Northwoods region. In October 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty announced that a team of public and private partners, including The Conservation Fund and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, acquired a conservation easement on more than 51,000 acres of working forest—almost 80 square miles—in Itasca and Koochiching counties, providing key habitat for the Canada lynx, gray wolf, American black duck and American woodcock, and dozens of other valued species.
“Minnesotans have always taken great pride in our vast forests and this achievement is a testament to our long-term commitment to responsible stewardship of our heritage and future.”
Minnesota's outdoor legacy is renowned. The Northwoods, one of the largest unfragmented forest landscapes in the U.S., is home to dozens of species in greatest conservation need. The current project, by a coalition of private and public partners, achieves important wildlife habitat conservation by preventing forest fragmentation. The deal, the single largest conservation transaction in Minnesota in at least a decade, also protects jobs by keeping the property a working forest. In addition, a conservation easement on the forest ensures that the lands can be used by the public for outdoor recreation including hunting, fishing, hiking and cross-country skiing.
Across much of northern Minnesota, large swaths of industrial forestland—or those lands owned by timber companies—are being sold, as companies grapple with rising real estate prices and changes in the forest products industry. Timber companies traditionally have made their lands available for public use, offering the public access for outdoor recreation.
The Fund used a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to assist in funding the Northwoods project. This is the second and largest project to be completed by the Minnesota Forest Legacy Partnership, a public-private coalition created two years ago to help conserve Minnesota’s Northwoods. In addition to The Conservation Fund, the partnership includes: The Trust for Public Land; The Nature Conservancy; Blandin Foundation; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce; Minnesota Forest Resources Council; and Minnesota Deer Hunters Association (MDHA).
Under the voluntary agreement, Forest Capital Partners, a private forest landowner, retains ownership as well as the right to continue to manage their land for timber production. Forest Capital Partners acquires and manages working forests across North America for long-term sustainability, including more than 290,000 acres in northern Minnesota. The company actively manages its forests under the sustainable forest management guidelines set forth by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative®.
This refuge encompasses the Lower Minnesota River Valley watershed and harbors more than 200 species of birds. Here, forests and streams invite bird watching, canoeing, fishing and hiking. In partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The McKnight Foundation, the Fund acquired 70 acres of critical migratory bird habitat as part of an 845-acre addition to the refuge.
Minnesota's Forest Legacy Partnership is working with landowners, loggers, outdoor enthusiasts and communities to preserve our forests for timber, jobs, recreation and wildlife habitat.
The Partnership has established a multi-million dollar capital fund that will help ensure sustainable forestry, protect wildlife habitat and guarantee public access in the large, industrial forests in the Itasca area of north-central Minnesota. The Partnership has set a three-year, $26 million goal to conserve working forests. The Minnesota Forest Legacy Partnership includes The Conservation Fund, the Blandin Foundation, Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Forest Resources Council, Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, Minnesota Forest Industries Inc., The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land.
In 2007, the Partnership acquired a conservation easement on 51,000 acres of working forests, habitat and recreation lands in the Minnesota Northwoods. Read more>
In the biggest conservation opportunity in modern state history, The Conservation Fund is working to protect more than 187,000 acres of prized working forestland at the upper reaches of the Mississippi River in north-central Minnesota through a conservation easement. Coupled with other forest conservation projects, this project will create more conserved recreation land than Minnesota’s current state park system. The project will protect jobs, preserve wildlife habitat and ensure permanent public access for outdoor recreation. The project is supported by the Forest Legacy Partnership. Read More >
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