Forest resources fund rural needs

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Daniel Holdridge is director of marketing and communication for Anew.

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Jason Bodine is the administrator of the Bayfield County Forestry and Parks Department.

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Fred Strand serves as a supervisor on the Bayfield County Board. He chairs the county Forestry and Parks Committee.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Deer stand along a forest clearing in Bayfield County, Wisconsin. Managing for wildlife habitat is an important aspect of county forest management in Wisconsin.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Wintergreen leaves dry on a tray; the dried leaves will be used to make herbal tea. County forestland is an important source of foraged food for many northern families.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Oyster mushrooms grow on a dead tree in a Bayfield County forest. For some they are a delicious food. Sustainable forest management for Wisconsin counties is governed by Wisconsin Statute 28.11.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Lake Superior is a ribbon on the horizon between forests and the Apostle Islands as seen from the Bayfield Peninsula. Carbon credits derived from beautiful forests can be worth more than carbon credits derived from mundane sources like methane.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Logs await loading at a northern-Wisconsin railyard. Timber is a product that’s compatible with carbon credits in a sustainable forest-management program.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Tamarack trees seem to emit a golden glow on the edge of a forest in Bayfield County, Wisconsin. Sustainable forest management balances production of timber with recreation, clean water and air, and other factors that can include carbon credits. Carbon credits can be a forest product that provides another revenue stream for local government.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Rural forests offer recreation -- and carbon credits. Fred Strand says, 'Recreation is very important to the quality of life of people who live here and to our economy.'

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Signs mark a recreational trail for both summer and winter recreation. Wisconsin counties manage forest land for multiple uses, including recreation that supports the tourism industry year round.

Water cascades over a falls in northern Wisconsin. Northern forests provide clean water and air that attract visitors while improving everyday life for local residents.

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Light-green growth shows on forest trees during spring in northern Wisconsin. Growing trees sequester carbon as they grow. That carbon can be managed, documented and sold as carbon credits. Those credits complement other forest products like timber as well as management of forests for uses like recreation, hunting, fishing and foraging.

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The Bayfield County Courthouse stands under winter-blue skies in Washburn, Wisconsin. Sandstone for the structure was mined locally. Bayfield County manages more than 172,000 acres of county forest land. That public land is especially productive as a resource that benefits county residents and visitors through timber sales, carbon-credit sales, recreation, hunting, fishing, foraging, clean water and air, and tourism. County forests in Wisconsin can act as a conduit that brings outside money into rural communities.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Jason Maloney For Agri-View

Often we hear of resources being sucked out of rural areas. Local governments and residents are often strapped for the cash needed to buy necessary goods and services. Large tax burdens and depressed income levels are a topic for discussion in the countryside. So naturally when a new source of funds, a new stream of revenue, is identified, many take notice.

Jason Maloney mug — Jason Maloney and Red

Jason Maloney from Washburn in northern Wisconsin lives between Lake Superior and the orchards and farms of Bayfield County. The retired soldier and educator grew up on a family farm in Marinette County.