GNA Wisconsin Sustainable Forestry Conference Update

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The Wisconsin Sustainable Forestry Conference provided insights into the progress of the GNA program in partnering with the Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest for increased forest management. From the early years to the present, the program has shown growth, accomplishments, and a commitment to sustainable practices, leveraging federal, state, county, and private forestry resources.

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GNA Panel Wisconsin Sustainable Forestry Conference 04/06/2022

GNA in Wisconsin Goal: GNA provides an opportunity for the State and others in the forestry community to work with the Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest (CNNF) to help increase the level of accomplishments on the National Forest and see the benefits of increased forest management Wisconsin an early leader in the program First timber sale stumpage cut in early 2016 A true partnership with shared responsibilities State works as a Forest Service cooperator Ownership of the process by the State from beginning to end Leverages the skills and resources of Federal, State (including Forestry and other programs), County and Private Forestry interests to conduct additional timber management and restoration activities on the National Forest that would not otherwise be able to be accomplished The Division is committed to this partnership for the long term, and continues to make increased investments into the program

GNA The Early Years (where have we been) Early goal of establishing 25-30 MBF of timber/year First ten-year Agreement, signed in fall 2015 Division seed money used to start the program Work accomplished largely through volunteer overtime status staff time, LTE hiring and special assignments. Some early contracting also used One year planning/establishment window Early efforts focused on refining processes and building trust A few select Program Income projects High priority projects and low-hanging fruit Some trial and error. Lessons learned on what worked, what didn t Experimentation with fit to Department/Division Finding roles best suited for Forestry/other partners

GNA The Present (where we are now) Committed to annual goal increase to 45 MBF for 2 years, to address 2019 blowdown This salvage work is wrapping up, majority has been completed Signed second concurrent ten-year agreement in spring 2020 Have collected enough revenues to pay back original seed money Have dedicated permanent staff time to program, NFL s, NFS, also more LTE hiring Incorporating more contracting with consultant Foresters, MOA s with County Forestry staff Two-year planning/establishment window CNNF a leading timber producing forest in nation in 2017, 18, 19 & 21 due in part to contributions of the GNA program A lot of timber has been established and sold (statistics on following slide, additional data in handout) Program Revenue (now just called Revenue) involves more core consistent re-occurring projects as well as one-offs Able to fund and conduct numerous Revenue projects to date (list of projects in handout) A little over $2 million spent on projects so far Projected net Revenues of approximately $8.5 million forthcoming for additional projects

GNA Timber Sale Data Data on sales sold to date (Totals over both Agreements): Sales sold - 142 Total Acres 23,133 Total Cord Equivalents 364,732 Total stumpage sold since inception - $12,693,741.15 Timber Receipts to date - $6,999,872.54 Avg. value sold/acre - $548.73

GNA The Future (where are we going) We have settled on a long-term goal of 25 MBF/year going forward The Division has proposed to invest even more permanent employee time to GNA Will hire a second National Forest Specialist Increasing NFL staff time from 40 to 50 percent Adding GNA time to 2 Area Forestry Staff Specialists positions Work planning GNA duties for other permanent staff to provide clear workload expectations Division will continue to re-evaluate GNA management models during future SD efforts, including transitioning to a segregated full-time team Continue to utilize partnerships with State, County, Private Consultants, other co-operators (use all the tools in the toolbox) As sales begin to finish up, more involvement with post-sale treatments (site-prep, tree planting, release, etc.) Projected workload: 7300 acres site prep, 2100 acres planting, 400 acres release Revenue projects will focus on things that we can do effectively and provide maximum sustainability and value to the FS Emphasis on projects that enhance program sustainability (support additional NEPA development) Will focus on how to effectively/wisely spend remaining projected revenues More prioritizing of projects to address greatest need Explore possibilities of entering into longer-term agreements (20 years or more) Reduced administrative costs/less complexity to manage Longer planning horizons