The Largest Easement Donation to a Wisconsin Land Trust

On December 1, 2011, the Winter Park Pines Nature Preserve was established with the granting of a perpetual conservation easement by Ken and Carolyn Aldridge to the Northwoods Land Trust.  This 3,195 acre property -nearly  five square miles – includes about 43 kilometers of cross-country ski and snow shoe trails at the core of the Minocqua Winter Park Nordic Center’s trail system.  This project is the largest conservation easement ever donated to a land trust in Wisconsin.

Minocqua Winter Park is regarded as one of the premier cross-country ski trail systems in the Midwest.  The ski chalet is located on 40 acres of land owned by the Town of Minocqua and managed for public use under an agreement with the Lakeland Ski Touring Foundation, Inc.  The Winter Park Pines Nature Preserve surrounds the chalet property.

Through the land protection agreement, the Aldridges have granted skiers perpetual access to the existing trails, allowed for sustainable forestry, and limited land fragmentation and development which will keep the land in its natural state.  Through the Aldridge’s generosity, the land will remain forever open to the public for winter sports including cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and skijoring (skiing with dogs).

The conservation agreement also protects over 13 miles of natural shorelines on the Squirrel River, Yukon Creek, Howard’s Creek, and other small, un-named streams and ponds.  In addition, the land provides natural habitat buffers around and adjacent to the Squirrel River Pines State Natural Area.

The public is invited to the dedication of the new  Winter Park Pines Nature Preserve on  Thursday, December  29^th at 11 a.m.  at the chalet.  

To get to Minocqua Winter Park, take Hwy. 70 about 6.5 miles west of Minocqua, turn south on Squirrel Lake Road for about 4 miles, and follow the signs east ¼ mile on Scotchman Lake Road to the entrance drive.   For more information on the preserve or dedication, contact land trust Executive Director Bryan Pierce at (715) 479-2490.   

Squirrel River, Northwoods Land Trust Photo

LEAPing on Over to Rally

GWC is proud to announce that we’ve awarded scholarships to eight of our land trust members to attend Rally, 2011, the national land trust conference in Milwaukee this fall.

The land trusts receiving scholarships include:

• Baird Creek Preservation Foundation
• Baraboo Range Preservation Association
• Driftless Area Land Conservancy
• Glacial Lakes Conservancy
• Northwoods Land Trust
• The Prairie Enthusiasts
• Tall Pines Conservancy
• West Wisconsin Land Trust

We’re awarding these scholarships as part of our commitment to making land trusts stronger through the Land Trust Excellence & Advancement Program (LEAP).  These scholarships have been awarded through our LEAP universally-available services.  We’re also working on customized services with six land trusts right now and plan to bring more into the program later this year.

Now more than ever we’re committed to standards of excellence in land trust work.  Click through to support our efforts to help land trusts protect the places that make Wisconsin special.

LEAP is Underway!

By Kate Zurlo-Cuva

In January we kicked off the Land Trust Excellence and Advancement Program and are pleasantly surprised by the tremendous positive momentum we have garnered in the land trust community.  Our two years of preparation and development are coming to fruition this summer – we’ve kicked off our first round of customized services grants and have made new trainings universally available to Wisconsin land trusts.

MaryKay O’Donnell from the Land Trust Alliance (our program partner) and I have been furiously aligning our resources for services with the six land trusts receiving an assessment, implementation plan, and a grant to reach a major goal.  Just this past week alone we had the pleasure of beginning an implementation plan on a gorgeous sunny day for the Green Lake Conservancy with a porch-side view of Green Lake itself, began the guided organizational assessment process for the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, and initiated a path to accrediting the Ice Age Trail Alliance.

Green Lake Conservancy board members, Kate, & MaryKay celebrate planning success over lunch

Each of these organizations is the recipient of a multi-year commitment from GWC and the Land Trust Alliance for mentoring, coaching, and improvement activities – these services total nearly $20,000!  The land trust community has collectively pledged a commitment to perpetual land protection and we take this very seriously.  We feel striving for excellence is the key to our future success.

We’ll continue to develop new opportunities to learn from experts in the field as well as our peers in the Wisconsin land trust community.  And, we’ll open up a new period for applications to the customized suite of services for land trust excellence at the end of the year.

Later this year, we’ll head to Lac du Flambeau to tackle a few goals with the Northwoods Land Trust. We’ll also carry out guided organizational assessments with Natural Heritage Land Trust and the Prairie Enthusiasts.

Please support our efforts to strive for excellence in the land trust community.  Your contribution can make the difference in a land trust becoming nationally accredited, contribute to vital trainings to bring land trusts up to industry standards, and assist us with meeting our mission of protecting the places that make Wisconsin special.