When Conservation Goals Became a Reality in Minnesota

Below is an excerpt from the speech given by Tom Duffus, the Fund's Upper Midwest Director, at the event marking the completion of the Upper Mississippi Forest project. This project was a labor of love and project of a lifetime for Duffus, who had been working on it for more than 10 years.

Ten years in the making, conservation of the Upper Mississippi Forest is a dream come true for so many. No one person or group made this happen—it is a dream realized only with the astounding commitment of a large group of partners working together. And together, we have made history. We have changed the state map forever.

After 15 years of industrial timberland sell-offs in the East, turnover of our precious Minnesota paper company lands became a reality in 1995. Several companies—Consolidated, Boise and Potlatch—sold or converted their lands to investment status. It happened right before our eyes, with most Minnesotans missing it.

Industrial forestland in Minnesota has always been considered “public land.” It is private, but the tradition of access had been assumed—until owners began closing access.

The Sugar Hills came into focus in the late 1990s when the County Biological Survey made note of the older, diverse forests in a large landscape, a rarity in an ever-more fragmented Minnesota. The unknown fate of this land was to impact the Mississippi River and more than 4,000 square miles of adjacent public lands, as well as the people who depend on these resources.

Realization of the importance of this land coincided with an extraordinary shift in land management. UPM/Blandin Paper Company led public and private owners in the move to manage forests as “plant communities,” not merely as trees to source a mill. This recovering forest is now, and will forever be, managed for all the growth stages—young, old and in between—a complexity that nature would desire. From a financial standpoint, it is like a diversified stock portfolio of forest products; good nature equals good economy. A healthy forest means a healthy community.

Even in the current climate, nearly 1.5 million acres of similar forestland changed hands last year in the United States. The fact of the matter is, timberlands are simply worth more for other things than for making paper. This cannot be ignored by owners like UPM. Paper companies have three choices: 1) sell the land to a timber investor, who in turn will maximize the value of its pieces; 2) sell parcels for retail subdivision; or 3) choose to convey a conservation easement.

The fate of Minnesota’s forestland was changed forever by 10 years of conversations and relationship-building, the Blandin Foundation’s Vital Forests/Vital Communities Initiative, careful easement drafting, and Minnesotans’ approval of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. UPM/Blandin Paper Company and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources chose well for Minnesotans; as the DNR puts it, this is Minnesota’s “Forest for the Future.”