Bidding remains strong for county forest timber sales
Forest administrator cautions that a dip in revenues will be coming due to paper mill closings in state
Taylor County is continuing to buck the statewide trend by attracting multiple bidders for its county forest timber sales.
On Friday, members of the county’s forestry committee approved awarding bids for four timber sales in the county forest totaling 266 acres.
According to Jordan Lutz, assistant county forest administrator, the county received 9 bids for the four sales with the bid totals coming in significantly higher than the minimum bid amounts.
The minimum bid value for the four sales was $156,357.50 while the total actual bid price was $282,756.65. Lutz noted this was about 82% more than the minimum.
Central Wisconsin Lumber of Marathon City was the high bidder on three of the four sales with Gumz Logging the high bidder on the remaining sale. Central Wisconsin Lumber focuses on saw logs and was willing to pay a premium to securing the basswood, mixed hardwood and red oak saw logs. The sales are projected to include about 47,000 board feet of basswood saw logs, 236,000 board feet of mixed hardwood and 69,000 board feet of red oak.
Lutz noted that these were the highest saw log prices they have seen. County forest administrator Jake Walcisak echoed that noting they did not expect to see log prices that high.
Walcisak explained that while Central Wisconsin Lumber is the high bidder for the sales, that company will subcontract with a logger to do the actual work. On the 44-acre sale 1-22, Central Wisconsin Lumber bid $32,242.60 to Gumz Logging $20,811. On the 26-acre sale 2-22, Central Wisconsin Lumber bid $30.220.55 to Agape Logging’s bid of $29,515. On the 99-acre sale 3-22, Central Wisconsin bid of $172,521 was well above Gumz Logging’s bid of $97,943.12 and Tony Smugala’s bid of $90,935.
In the fourth sale, Gumz Logging bid $47,772.50 for the 87-acre tract to Czarnezki Forest Product’s bid of $38,363.
“There is too big of a spread, something is going on,” said committee member Rollie Thums, questioning the bids. This is the first time Central Wisconsin has worked with the Taylor County Forest Department.
Walcisak recommended going with Central Wisconsin Lumber on the three sales with the condition of checking references for other logging work they have done in the region.
While the county’s getting higher than projected bids and multiple bids for each sale was good news, Walcisak repeated his caution that the good times may be limited, especially if the Verso paper mill in Wisconsin Rapids remains closed.
“We are going to trend down at some future point,” Walcisak said, seeking to prepare the committee for that potential.
Dam projects
Taylor County was successful in seeking grants for the Camp 8 and Chelsea Lake Dam replacement projects with state grants covering about half of the project costs.
The county had narrowly missed getting state grants for the two projects in the last budget cycle two years ago. According to Walcisak, the projects will be bid out late this year for possible construction in 2023 or 2024.
Committee chairman Scott Mildbrand asked if there was the potential to do any community improvements to Camp 8 while the dam is being replaced. Plans for Camp 8 include completely draining the existing flowage to the original creek bed while the work is being done. Mildbrand suggested the county should look into dredging or other projects while the water level is drawn down. He noted the Taylor County Sportsman’s Club has expressed interest in partnering on the project.
Committee member Gary Beadles noted that at the very least they could place fish cribs which will be covered when the dam project is completed.
In other dam business, committee members asked about the status of repairs at Miller Dam. According to Walcisak, the project is still on track to be completed by the deadline extension given last month.
A sluice gate will be replaced on the dam with divers working on the project. The delay had been granted last month to allow more time for water levels to lower from their normal spring high points.
Walcisak said they would do their best to avoid the 4th of July due to the amount of use the flowage gets that week and the desire to minimize impact to residents and visitors.
In other business, committee members:
_ Approved extending a one year extension to Steve Dassow for Timber Sale No. 675. This is a winteronly access location and the request cited poor markets and lack of frozen ground. This is his first extension request on the sale.
_ Received an overview of the Wisconsin County Forest Association (WCFA) from executive director Rebekah Luedtke. She gave an overview of the County Forest Law and the role of county forests in Wisconsin since the first ones were created from cutover land in the 1920s and 1930s. Taylor County has had a leadership role in the WCFA since its inception in 1968 with county representation on its governing board. She noted that the model of county ownership and control with support from state agencies, is something that is unique to Wisconsin’s county forest system. In states such as Minnesota, the county forests are treated as administrative subunits of the state forest rather than having any real local control of them. There are 2.4 million acres of county forest in the state with Taylor County having 17,727 acres of forest. Douglas County has the largest county forest at 281,852 acres.
