Tom Duffus, Vice President, Midwest conservationfund.org BRIDGING THE GAP: SECURING AMERICAS W RKING FORESTS National land trust with a DUAL charter of: conservation AND sustainable economic development Conserved over 7.5 million acres since 1985 Partner-driven priorities and projects Work with community, government and corporate partners fulfilling their conservation priorities From historic battlefields to large working forests Accredited by Land Trust Accreditation Commission MI: 136 projects, over 35,000 acres. WI: over 125,000 acres; MN: over 285,000 acres Staff of 160 nationwide No members Making Conservation Work For America Real Estate Finance Bridge finance and lending Public and private funding Small-business lending Forestry Mitigation Our Expertise Every year, >1.5 million acres of working forest are lost to development in the U.S. In Wisconsin, since 1998, 3 million acres sold, comprising $1.8 billion in land sales. A similar trend in Michigan (1.8 million acres) and Minnesota and New York Most of the same lands have now transacted multiple times Sellers and buyers are now almost exclusively investors( recommend speaking the facts in orange) While much land is staying in production for now, development lands are being sold from the ownerships, making the working forest base smaller What happened to industrial forest lands? Where will they go? YearSeller TypeBuyer Type 1998 Forest Products Private 1999 Forest ProductsTIMO/REIT 1999 Forest Products Private 2000Private TIMO/REIT 2002 Forest ProductsTIMO/REIT 2003Private TIMO/REIT 2005 Forest ProductsTIMO/REIT 2006 Forest ProductsTIMO/REIT 2006 Forest ProductsTIMO/REIT 2007Private TIMO/REIT 2007 TIMO/REIT 2008 TIMO/REIT 2008 TIMO/REIT 2008 TIMO/REIT 2009 TIMO/REIT 2010 TIMO/REIT 2010 TIMO/REIT 2010 TIMO/REIT 2011 TIMO/REIT 2011 Forest ProductsTIMO/REIT 2011 Forest ProductsTIMO/REIT 2012 TIMO/REIT 2012Private TIMO/REIT 2012Private TIMO/REIT 2013 Forest ProductsTIMO/REIT 2013 TIMO/REIT Private 2014 TIMO/REIT 2014 TIMO/REITConservation Source: Prentiss & Carlisle A New Tool For The Problem: Our Working Forest Fund Recent Great Lakes Working Forest Projects EXAMPLES: County Forest Projects -Juneau County, WI Forest Legacy (state) Projects -Brule-St. Croix Legacy Forest, WI -Twin Lakes, WI -Upper Mississippi Forest, MN Yellow River, Juneau County, WI Partner: Juneau County Forestry Dept., WI County Interest: Major inholding, bottomland hardwoods, recreation, boundary reduction Seller: Hamel Forest Products TCF Role: Buyer, Project facilitator Funding: state, County Forest Loan Program No conservation easement (county forest) 67,207 acres Largest conservation deal in state history Partners: Lyme Timber Company, WI DNR Working Forest Easement ($265/ac) Concentration of pine barrens, glacial lakes Connects 940,000 acres of public forests TCF Role: Bidder/Buyer, Lender, Option Vendee Funding: Forest Legacy, state, NFWF, Private Foundations Went from 2 product sorts to 14 sorts, supplying mills across WI, UP and MN Logging contractor reports business investment due to easement Brule-St. Croix Legacy Forest, WI 14,012 acres Former: Consolidated/Stora/PlumCreek RMK/BTG/!!!!! Significant block of northern hardwood Adjacent to County Forest, snowmobile routes, public land TCF Role: Buyer/forest manager/easement seller/land seller Enhanced road access for the public and endowment Partner: WI DNR, Steigerwaldt Land Services Funding: State funding ($306/ac) Twin Lakes Working Forest, WI 188,000 acres Partner: UPM/Blandin Paper, MN DNR Working forest conservation easement Largest conservation deal in state history 8 th largest in US, only in top ten with NO splits or development 60,000 acres wetlands; 263 miles stream, 48 miles road access TCF Role: project facilitator, option vendee, funder, politics Funding: state, private ($43.7 million, $233/ac) Upper Mississippi Forest, MN Questions? For more information contact: Tom Duffus at (218) 722 2393,