Whenever I am asked about snowshoe locations, I often recommend state parks and trails, county parks and national wilderness areas. But until this past year, I was unaware of another excellent category of public land sometimes available for snowshoe enthusiasts called conservancy land or land trusts.
A conservancy or a land trust is a nonprofit organization with established goals of protecting land for the purpose of environmental preservation. These organizations work with landowners to preserve their properties, seek land donations and purchase land to keep natural for future generations to enjoy. “Land trusts are now one of the fastest-growing and most successful conservation movements in American history,” according to the Land Trust Alliance, a national nonprofit organization.
When the alliance was created in 1982, there were fewer than 450 local and state land trusts across the country. Today, there are more than 1,700 organizations conserving more than 37 million acres. In the five years prior to the publication of the 2005 National Land Trust Census Report, the acreage protected by local and regional land trusts doubled from 6 million to 12 million.
Although the Western states lead in having the largest number of land trusts, the 2005 report shows two Midwestern states were in the top 10: Michigan with 44 (105,419 total acres) and Wisconsin with 54 (77,958 acres). The Midwest had 4 percent of the total U.S. conservancies with 524,786 acres in all. These numbers have increased since the 2005 report.
Today, in Wisconsin alone, more than 200,000 acres is held in trust, according to the Gathering Waters Conservancy website at www.gatheringwaters.org/wilandtrusts. (From there click on Land Trust Maps to find the eight regional land trust areas and their respective Wisconsin conservancies.)
La Crosse area hiking
Where does snowshoeing come into the picture? Well, a conservancy in Wisconsin, where I live, sponsors annual snowshoe hikes. The Mississippi Valley Conservancy, founded in 1997, is a nonprofit land trust out of La Crosse protecting over 9,500 acres of mixed terrain, including bluffs, wetlands, streams, prairies and coulees. About 2,000 of those acres are actually owned by MVC and the remaining properties are protected by conservation easements. The property is spread across seven counties, including Buffalo, Trempealeau, La Crosse, Monroe, Vernon, Crawford and Grant. The properties owned by MVC have trails and open areas available for public recreation including hiking, bird-watching, nature photography, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hunting and fishing. Two properties are open for biking, too.
All of the MVC-owned property is open for snowshoeing, according to MVC conservation specialist Abbie Church. “We have at least one, if not two, annual snowshoe hikes,” Church said. “We definitely encourage silent sports to try to get more people out and about appreciating nature.” Last January, MVC hosted an organized snowshoe hike in the La Crosse Blufflands. For 2010 snowshoe event dates and locations, go to the website at www.mississippivalleyconservancy.org.
Twelve years ago, my wife and I lived in Onalaska where I worked for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. This past December, I returned to explore MVC property. It was enjoyable visiting areas that were so close to where I lived, but were not open to the public at that time. I used to snowshoe in the Hixon Forest, the Myrick Park Marsh area and in many other areas around La Crosse. But it was exciting to ‘shoe in new areas.
I visited Tom Link, an old friend who works at UW-La Crosse and a MVC member. Although there was very little snow on the ground the day of my visit, we did hike some of the hilly landscape and took in a few panoramic views.
We took a back road off State Highway 16 into the bluffs. Taking County Road FA north, we came to a parking lot and trailhead for several land tracts. It was a short hike west to the Beck Tract. There we got a great view of La Crosse and a wide span of the Mississippi River Valley below.
Another hike for catching an even more spectacular view of the valley is farther north in the Lenox Tract. To get there you hike through two other MVC properties and enjoy some wonderful forested areas amidst some old gravel pits. And the southern La Crosse Blufflands offer another perspective, with more forested areas to hike and more challenging climbing.
The La Crosse area coulees and bluffs offer some of the best hiking and snowshoeing terrain in Wisconsin. Link says there are miles and miles of trails to explore on each MVC-owned tract.
Other Wisconsin conservancies promote public use of their property. However, it is important to know that not all land trust properties are owned by the conservancies and open to the public. Some properties are owned by private owners and held in trust for future conservation. Those properties need to be respected and not assumed usable by the public. The landowners retain the right to decide who is welcome.
The best policy is to always ask the conservancy what properties are owned and what properties are accessible for public use. Never assume. For example, the North Central Conservancy Trust out of Stevens Point has 28 easements for about 2,500 acres. But the easements are still in private hands.
Other snowshoe friendly Wisconsin land
Many publicly owned conservancy properties do invite snowshoers. The conservancy-owned properties of the Natural Heritage Land Trust, including the Patrick Marsh by Sun Prairie and Wilke Prairie Preserve by Waunakee, allow snowshoeing.
The Madison Audubon Society offers about 80 field trips open to the public annually. Their one snowshoeing event is the New Year’s Sunrise at Faville Grove Marsh on January 1. It is a snowshoeing event provided there is snow. With or without snowshoes, the event will offer a meandering hike through a prairie at the year’s first light, bringing participants to a marsh overlook to witness the sunrise.
In the Bayfield Regional Conservancy, a snowshoeing event on the Brownstone Trail in Bayfield may occur at the winter festival known as Manypenny Madness. Also, snowshoeing is recommended on the Big Ravine Trail and Mount Ashwabay in Bayfield, the White River Walker property in Kelly, the White River Carlson property in Mason, and the Lost Creek Tillman’s property.
Eagle River-based Northwoods Land Trust Inc. has held snowshoe tours in the Thunder Lake Wildlife Conservation Area at Three Lakes in Oneida County. Although no event is scheduled for 2010 at this time, the area remains open for public snowshoeing. The property can be accessed through the state-owned Thunder Marsh Wildlife Area. The land trust also owns property in the Holmboe Conifer Forest State Natural Area near Rhinelander where snowshoers are also welcome.
The Prairie Enthusiasts based out of Madison indicated their lands are open to the public and many members hike and snowshoe the properties.
Michigan and Minnesota options
Looking to other states, Michigan’s Heart of the Lakes Center for Land Conservation Policy is a statewide organization. Its role is to research conservation policies and practices, and strengthen conservancies. For information about snowshoeing on Michigan conservancies, e-mail info@heartofthelakes.org.
The Minnesota Land Trust organization helps protect and preserve Minnesota’s lands through public and private partnerships. They provide education and advocacy for environmental systems, protecting 34,753 acres in 387 projects. To inquire about snowshoeing on Minnesota properties, visit www.mnland.org.
The greatest gift given to us by conservancies is protected natural land to appreciate and admire. The next person who e-mails me asking where he or she can snowshoe in northern Wisconsin will be answered with a list of conservancy organizations to contact.
There is a wealth of beautiful property out there waiting for us to enjoy.
Jim Joque is the coordinator of disability services for the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He is also an adventure education instructor, teaching courses on camping, backpacking and snowshoeing, and a trip leader for the university’s wilderness orientation program. He is also a member of the Wisconsin Governor’s State Trails Council.
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