County approves volunteer work in forest, wants signed waivers

Taylor County is open to people helping improve the county forest, but wants to make sure the county is protected if something goes wrong.

Members of the county’s forestry and recreation committee on October 4 gave their blessing to have forest administrator Lucas Williams work with the county’s attorney to develop a volunteer agreement to protect the county from potential legal liability as well as clarify that the forest is public land and that any improvements remain public.

Williams asked for the volunteer agreement after being approached by a neighboring property owner who asked for permission to do some trail work in the ruffed grouse management area in the county forest. Wildlife trails go through the area and are usable by hunters and others for recreation.

Williams said he was told by the resident that he had worked with the county in the past on other projects but there had been disagreements and that had stopped in recent years.

Williams said he welcomed people willing to help with things like trail maintenance such as removing trees and mowing them, but wanted the county protected from liability if someone got hurt and that ownership is still retained by the county.

Committee chairman Scott Mildbrand agreed and supported having a document for volunteers working on the forest to sign to protect the county’s interest. It was noted that the agreement would be used for other volunteers such as crews from the Ice Age Trail Commission doing trail work events in the forest.

In other business, committee members:

• Approved hiring a contractor for $10,200 under the sustainable forestry grant to remove trees damaged from the ice and snow storm in winter 2022 from forest roads. Access in some part of the county forest remains limited due to trees being across roads. The project will include taking out leaning popple and other types of trees. The work is expected to take three to four weeks to complete.

• Approved purchasing a set of CAMSO tracks for the county’s ATV from Lang Equipment for $4,500. The forestry department uses the ATV to access forests to mark logging sales and monitoring logging activities. The tracks will improve the ability to access the woods especially in wetter areas and through snow.

• Received an update on logging sales. The recent dry weather has been beneficial for loggers after a wet summer delayed many projects. It was reported that logging sales are active.

• Received sobering news from Williams from the Wisconsin’s County Forest Association Annual meeting held recently in Rhinelander. Since 2008, revenues are down about a third across the county forest system in the state. Logging in the state is facing challenges with mill closures and also internationally with logging as the rainforests are being clear cut and replaced with eucalyptus plantations.