Shooting for funding
Forestry committee approves applying for grant to bring shooting range to Rib Lake area
The Forestry and Recreation Committee voted to apply for a recreational shooting grant at their meeting on Friday, July 11.
“This is the Rib Lake range that we had discussed last year,” said forest administrator Lucas Williams. “It’s expensive, it surprised me how expensive it was.”
The grant calls for a 25% match in funds, an amount that comes to $64,000 out of the $256,000 total required to complete the range. The area’s outdoorsmen are stepping up with the Taylor County Sportsman’s Club pledging $40,000, the Rib Lake Fish and Game Association pledging $10,000 and the Westboro Fish and Wildlife Club pledging somewhere between $2,000-$2,500. In addition, the county is required to commit $25,000 to cover administration and engineering costs.
“They’re all supportive and want to see it completed and they’re willing to put skin in the game,” said Williams.
He also reported that the clubs encouraged him to apply for powerline impact fee funds which he stated he may do.
Recent rule changes at the county level may impact the amount and eligibility for those funds as a county project.
Williams reported that the grant is competitive.
“Whether or not we’ll get it, I’m not sure,” he said. He stated that he had the application ready to go out and was waiting for the approval of the committee.
The county would be responsible for maintenance of the range which will have walking paths to the targets.
Williams expects the range will have more vegetation as he’ll have it mowed with a skid steer about once each year.
The range would have to go through a full review upon completion in addition to a year-long environmental assessment. If awarded, Williams hopes to start construction in the fall of 2027. The grant will be awarded in the next four months.
The next meeting will take place on August 1 at 9:30 a.m.
In other business, the committee:
• Closed out timber sale #698, a sale of approximately 130 acres located east of the corner of Trout and Camp 8 roads cut by Wilson Forestry.
• Heard an update on current timber sales including one underway on the north end of Emil Dr. This tract still has 10 acres left to harvest which is being conducted by Czarnezki Forest Products. Another tract on Cut Off Rd. near Bear Ave. began in June and is 50% complete. Twin Forest Products is managing this tract and had to pull off-site recently due to the wet ground, though they hope to return.
• Voted to purchase lunch in the amount of $250 for the third-party auditors who will be in the building on August 8.
• Heard an update on the Camp 8 2023 rehabilitation project. Williams reported that the contract was awarded to Randy Thums several months ago to complete trail work, but with the project being over an acre it requires a storm runoff permit. Currently the trail is only wide enough for one-way traffic and requires widening on both sides; however, now that the trail is going from pervious to impervious, a permit is required. “This stuff is outside of my scope, an engineer should do it,” Williams said.
Williams was able to get the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) down to $11,000 for the cost of the permit. This is lower than the original cost of $21,000. Because this is a DNR-required expense, Williams was informed he should request additional funds from the DNR to complete the project, which he did.
• “That makes perfect sense and it makes no sense,” said committee chairman Scott Mildbrand.
• Williams reported that he planned to have engineering and surveying company Becher and Hoppe complete the permit work, but the committee prompted him to look into cheaper, local options. “I think that we should be saving taxpayer money anywhere we can,” said Mildbrand.
• Voted to put the timber in the Campus Woods out to bid in the fall. Because the tract is not located in the county forest and the issues with the health of the woods, the committee is not required to take bids for this sale. In the interest of fairness and transparency the committee voted to put it up for bid regardless, with the expectation that the quality of work will need to be above average due to the location of the tract.
• Approved the request of the Jump River Fire Department to purchase radios and other equipment for roughly $12,000. The money for these purchases comes from a Secure Rural Schools (SRS) grant and the committee has until September 30, 2026 to spend the money or they are faced with returning any funds leftover. The SRS grant was created to support rural counties whose tax base was limited by the growing amount of federal land. The committee encourages the county’s fire departments to request these funds for updated equipment.
• Heard that Williams and other forestry representatives will have an invasive species booth at the Taylor County Fair to educate the public.
• Learned that Fawn Ave. received one mile of gravel, and a culvert was replaced and the road was lifted on Emil Dr. There will be about $19,000 left in various accounts earmarked for road work after Williams has set money aside for anticipated expenses such as grading, roadside mowing, and beaver control.
Mildbrand questioned the source of that money which came from a levy. He estimated that the levy has collected roughly $250,000 over the last 10 years. The committee tabled the discussion until the resolution could be examined.
