Forestry committee eyes Trail Farm parcel for recreational expansion

Members of Taylor County’s forestry and recreation committee on Friday took the first steps to formally explore the purchase of the Trail Farm property in the county forest.

Committee members authorized forest administrator Jake Walcisak to approach the owners and begin negotiations. Any agreement would be contingent on the county receiving Knowles-Nelson Stewardship grant funding from the state to cover half the purchase price. In addition, any agreement reached would have to be approved by both the forestry committee and by the full county board.

This is the third month in a row where the parcel has been discussed by committee members, but it is the first time the committee is taking formal action.

The 230-acre parcel is owned by the Meyer family and is entirely surrounded by county forest with an extensive road and trail network already in place. The parcel is what is remaining from what was originally a larger block of land, the portion of the property with buildings was separated and other entities are looking at some of the adjoining land. The property is in the Managed Forest Land program, which means it receives tax benefits for being open to non-motorized access. Walcisak noted that the only way to access the property is by going through about 3/4 of a mile of county forest.

While there are potential complications with a private owner purchasing a MFL property and the potential for tax penalties if they choose to take the land out of the MFL program, Walcisak said there are no barriers or fees if it is purchased by a public entity.

Walcisak said the property has been well managed with valuable timber land in addition to recreational potential on the existing trails. He noted that on a per acre average, the county returns far more money per acre of county forest to the towns than is currently being collected on the parcel. By county ordinance, the town where the logging occurs gets a portion of the stumpage revenue of any logging project in the county forest. Walcisak also explained that under state rules, the amount of state aid to schools goes up to offset when land is taken off the tax roll for public purposes.

Committee member Gene Knoll said he toured the property and was impressed by it, urging its purchase for primarily recreational purposes. “If the county acquired this, it would be a silent sports gem,” he said, noting specifi cally the number of grouse seen when touring it.

Walcisak said the county could designate areas of the parcel for recreational use and that ongoing trail maintenance could be added to the existing work schedule without much overall impact. He noted that over time, the potential logging revenue on the parcel would cover its purchase price.

Committee members approved giving Walcisak authority to begin negotiations.

In other business, committee members:

_ Discussed the status of a shared administrative support position for the department. Previously they shared a position with zoning, which shares office space at the courthouse. While forestry covered half the position, in reality the workload averaged about 25% of the time. The zoning committee had asked for additional time and wanted a more streamlined command structure rather than the position answering to two supervisors. The personnel committee had approved going with a full-time position for zoning under a six-month trial with forestry paying for a portion of the hours. Walcisak expressed concern that the forestry department’s needs did not get overlooked. Committee chairman Chuck Zenner noted that after the trial, there is the potential to increase the hours for the position from the county standard of 35 hours per week to 40 if there was a need for more work to be done.

_ Discussed spending $1,200 to install riser equipment at the Chelsea Lake Dam to help avoid the need for confined space certification to access the stop-logs that manage water level. When the dam is eventually rebuilt plans are for the spillway to be a set height. However, currently the dam requires the addition or removal of stop logs seasonally and depending on weather events. Walcisak was concerned that under new county safety policies accessing the stop logs could require county staff to go through confined space training or bring in expensive outside contractors to do the routine work.