NPSD School Forest has Plans and a Bright Future
The Northland Pines School District is lucky to own land that we can designate to be a school forest. The school forest is located at 4000 Chain O' Lakes Road in Eagle River. It has a mission to educate students about the environment, wildlife and forest management. Over time our school forest has fallen behind a few of these areas and we are now moving in a much brighter direction.
A few teachers, administrators and community members came together to create a documented school forest plan. The plan focuses on how we will use the school forest for years to come and how we manage our forest. The district worked closely with LEAF K-12 Forestry Education Program which is affiliated with the Wisconsin DNR and UW Stevens Point to develop the school forest plan. Another big need was to look at the health of our school forest and for that we turned to Jill Nemec, a Forester with the WI DNR, and created a Forest Management Plan.
If you drive by the school forest, you can see that the harvest and sustainable management plan has been put into action. Once a forest management plan was made for the next 50 years, bids were put out and a certified logger was selected. The harvest plan was created to help create a healthy forest by removing aging trees, non-native trees, support wildlife and looking at how new growth will come. It may not look the same as it did a year ago, but we are moving forward to having a healthy forest for many decades to come. If you have any questions on the harvest or would like to see the plan please contact Scott Foster, District Administrator.
The school forest plan is moving ahead as well. Forward thinking from the Northland Pines School District is allowing all funds from the timber harvest to be put right back into education at the school forest. With all the new opportunities being created for learning at the school forest a few items have been purchased to enhance student experiences. A pavilion was put up to have a classroom opportunity and shelter from weather. A parking lot for safe bus drop off and turn around was added. A new pit toilet was installed as well. Finally, staff will be given a budget to have bussing out to the school forest to work with their students.
Our school forest is now moving forward to be a great place for trees, wildlife and educating students. | 
