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By Sara Bredesen
Regional Editor
BARABOO
— There are more than 270,000 people in the state who own more than 10
acres of woodlands, and only 2,200 of them are Wisconsin Woodlands Owners Association
members, according to Dale Zaug, past WWOA president.
The job of newly installed president Merlin Becker is to increase those numbers.
'Historically, the woodland owners in Wisconsin are up there in years,' Mr.
Becker said. 'They are either retirement age or close to retirement age. We're
not the only organization having that.'
The men spoke during the association's annual meeting and conference Sept. 13-16
in Baraboo.
Mr. Zaug said one of the problems with increasing membership is many Wisconsin
woodland owners have their property for hunting and recreation and don't understand
the advantages of managing it for timber sustainability.
'People are really into the wildlife end of it,' he said. 'How many people are
just into cutting trees?'
Mr. Becker said he and other WWOA members can show by example that good woodland
management actually increases the wildlife presence the timber's value.
The association also will be dealing with parcelization, or breaking large woodlands
into smaller pieces and selling to several buyers. Parcelization has been shown
to inhibit wildlife movement and threaten water quality.
For some owners, the land was purchased for investment and is more valuable
as smaller building lots. For others, there are no buyers for larger acreage.
'The biggest problem is trying to keep it together,' Mr. Zaug said. 'Who can
afford to spend a million dollars for land?'
'We're trying to get people to understand that this land they have — the
whole thing — is more important than just for timber,' he said.
The organization's leaders also are hoping to steer the next generation past
the flashing dollar signs.
'They probably live in another state, and Grandpa's 40 don't mean nothing to
them,' Mr. Becker said. 'They've not walked and talked it. It's just an asset,
and they want to sell it. All we can do is show them what it can be in the future.'
The organization's thrust will be to encourage owners to introduce the next
generations to the land and instill in them the values of stewardship and continued
ownership.
It also will mean finding ways to protect the land from inheritance taxes that
often make it impossible for the next generation to hold on to valuable woodlands.
Mr. Becker said the membership drive will be a neighbor-to-neighbor and family-to-family
approach.
'The whole theme of WWOA is education,' Mr. Becker said.
It's education about the woodlots, education at chapters and education about
all the bills that could affect woodland owners, he said.
'All we can offer them is education, to say that there is only so much land
in Wisconsin, and you have a part of that land,' he said. 'You are the steward
of that while you are here, which is a short period of time compared to the
trees.'
Information about WWOA is available at www.wisconsinwood lands.org or by calling
(715) 346-4797.