County timber sale to provide hands-on learning

Taylor County and UW-Stevens Point to work together to manage a timber harvest for habitat improvement

Taylor County will be partnering with UW-Stevens Point to provide a hands-on learning opportunity for the next generation of foresters.

Members of the Taylor County forestry committee on Nov. 4 approved a joint project with professor Michael Demchik for a timber marking for wildlife habitat class.

According to Demchik, over their spring break, students will be at the forest to mark and monitor a mixed hardwood timber sale with the goal of improving wildlife habitat for game species including deer and game birds while also improving for migratory birds.

According to assistant county forest administrator Jordan Lutz, the 165-acre parcel that will be used for the educational program was already on the county’s harvest schedule for the coming year. He said they were already planning to harvest that parcel and this chance at collaboration will be a benefit to the students and to the forest. The parcel in question is located just southwest of Camp 8 campground near where the ATV trail goes through it. The management of the parcel will include keeping enough screening trees to minimize impact for recreational use. One of the criteria was for easy road access.

Forest administrator Jake Walcisak said having access to Demchik’s skillset will be extremely helpful.

Both Lutz and Walcisak have worked with Demchik both as students of him and in trainings as professional foresters.

While supportive of the educational aspects of the program, committee member Rolly Thums questioned the change in heart toward wildlife in the forest. “As much as you guys hate deer in that area,” Thums said, citing department staff’s concern about concentrations of deer impacting forest regeneration. He said it seemed counterproductive to say the deer are killing the trees and then to go out of their way to improve the habitat for deer.

“Can we have both?” Thums asked. “There is a balance,” Walcisak said, noting there are benefits to managing logging for habitat while also limiting over-browsing of new growth. “We need new baby trees for multiple reasons,” he said.

“The more trees we can grow, the better,” he said. “I am all for this,” Thums said noting he would support cutting to improve wildlife habitat for animals such as grouse and turkey and other species. “I think that is what the county forest is about,” he said.

Walcisak assured committee members that there would be no restrictions on hunting in the area that will be managed as part of the program.

He praised the ability to offer a hands-on experience to the up and coming foresters. He said most students coming out of the program will have decent grades and other activities, but being able to say they have handson timber marking experience will help set them apart when the students seek jobs in the future.

Thums questioned how much added work this will put on the forestry staff.

“It will be similar to us doing it ourselves,” Walcisak said. He explained that while the students would be doing the marking, he and Lutz would be supervising and mentoring.

“It seems like a win for everybody,” said committee chairman Scott Mildbrand. “We get the opportunity to help young people learn the ropes in forestry. It may improve wildlife habitat. I think it is a win for everyone.”

Timber sales

Taylor County is seeking bids for three timber sales totaling 196 acres for their fall timber sale bidding.

Two of the harvests will be for northern hardwoods with selections and overstory removal while the third includes some black spruce in with the hardwoods.

The sales have a projected 6,330 tons of pulp wood and 218,000 board feet of saw logs. Based on the minimum bids, the sales are valued at $83,968.

“This is Christmas for us,” Lutz said as he presented the proposed timber sales to committee members. He said red oak is a major species in the area and while there has been a recent drop in oak saw log prices, he said it was coming down from a high amount to closer to what the longterm average value of the logs was.

He explains that China is a major buyer of red oak and that with tariffs and sanctions, the export market for red oak has dried up. He said this may impact the amount of bidders and the prices. He said the county has worked to adjust minimum bid amounts to reflect actual market conditions.

“If they see minimum too high, they will throw it right in the trash,” Lutz said.

Committee members approved putting the sales out for bids with the bids to be awarded at the December meeting.

Dam projects

The long-awaited replacement of dams at Chelsea Lake and at Camp 8 inched closer to reality with committee members voting to send the projects out for bid for construction to take place in summer 2024.

During the construction, Walcisak said Camp 8 flowage will be drained to just the channel because there is no practical way to hold back the water while the work is being done.

With Chelsea Lake being much shallower at the dam, he said they are working to minimize the impact to lake level. He projected that the water level would need to come down about 12 inches during the project. He said this is due to the physical limitations of safely holding back that amount of water.

“Do you have a plan B in place?” Mildbrand asked, noting that nothing would surprise him in regard to construction and material prices.

Walcisak said he had confidence that the engineers had a handle on what the costs would be based on reviewing other projects around the state that are similar to the county’s. “I think we will be close,” he said.

He noted that the 50% grant from the Department of Natural Resources for the projects would increase if there were higher bid costs.

“At some point does it become cost prohibitive?” Mildbrand asked, however he did not want to speculate ahead of getting bids how the county would react if the bids came in too high.

The Chelsea Lake Dam replacement has an estimated cost of $273,011 with the Camp 8 project at an estimated $354,872.

According to Walcisak, the county has the funding on-hand to cover the county’s 50% of the project with state grants funding the other half.

With committee approval of putting the projects out to bid, the bids will be opened and reviewed in late December with action by the committee in January.

In other business committee members:

  Approved the closeout of sale No. 671 cut by Gumz Logging with the county receiving $109,182.88 in timber revenue. Lutz noted there was a 31% value overrun compared to the estimated values.

  Discussed the snowmobile and ATV/UTV trail maintenance efforts. The county receives grant funds through the state fuel tax which it then gives to the clubs for trail maintenance. Walcisak said the most bang for the buck comes from when the volunteers through the individual clubs are able to do the work. He said when accepting the state money, the county signs a contract obligating that the work will be done. If the clubs are unable to do the work, it falls onto the forestry department staff to do it themselves or hire private contractors. He assured committee members that when the county staff does the work, the county is reimbursed for the total cost of salary and benefits while they are doing those projects.