Prairie Ridge Forest Stewardship Cooperative
c/o Jim Hare
592 7 1/2 Street
Prairie Farm, WI 54762
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT:
Jim Hare 715-455-1757
Forest Stewardship Field Day Set For October 7
The Prairie Ridge Forest Stewardship Cooperative will host its first Forest Stewardship Field Day on October 7, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Bill Julien place in the Town of Wilson in northern Dunn County.
The program will include a tour and explanation of two sustainable management demonstration plots, a demonstration of sustainable logging practices and a report on the current progress of the Hiawatha Sustainable Woods Cooperative.
The tour of the demonstration plots will be led by Katie Fernholtz, a forester with the Community Forestry Resource Center in Minneapolis.
Two areas, one predominantly oak and one predominantly maple were marked earlier this year for improvement cutting. Fernholtz will explain the forestry rationale behind the stand improvement work, compare the improved plots to the surrounding woodland and the future
management plan for each of the two plots.
The demonstration of sustainable logging practices will be conducted by Steve Neta of Spooner. Neta owns his own logging and wood processing company in Spooner. He is currently managing the harvest, value-added processing and sale of wood certified through the Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) in cooperation with Timbergreen Forestry of Spring Green Wisconsin.
A light lunch will be served, after which John Stettler, President of Hiawatha Sustainable Woods Cooperative (HSWC) will speak briefly about the formation, goals and progress of HSWC. This relatively new cooperative, based in the Fountain City area, recently purchased a sawmill site and equipment and has begun operation as a landowner/producer cooperative.
The public is invited to attend.
The Prairie Ridge Forest Stewardship Cooperative (PRFSC) is a new organizing effort to bring forest owners together for the purposes of promoting effective, economic and long-term stewardship of the forests of this region. The organizing committee began meeting in May and expects to begin membership recruitment, business planning and
limited operations in 2001.
"The mission of the Prairie Ridge Forest Stewardship Cooperative is to promote sustainable forestry and woodland restoration through education, management, processing, and marketing services."
Directions to the Julien place: From Ridgeland take V east to 1370th Ave., turn right and follow the signs to E6507 1307th Ave.
Please call Jim Hare at 455-1757 or Bill Julien at 949-1446 for more information.
