8,200 acres across 9 counties now public land project safeguarding Mississippi headwaters region

Nearly 8,200 acres of timberland privately owned for decades by the Potlatch lumber company is being conveyed to nine counties scattered across northern Minnesota for public recreation.

It’s part of 72,000 acres purchased by the Conservation Fund from PotlatchDeltic Corp. for $48 million in 2020, making up the Minnesota Heritage Forest. Over the years, the fund has worked with tribal and local governments to own and maintain the forests.

“We saw a really once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect that land,” said Emilee Nelson, associate state director of the Conservation Fund.

This latest installment means 80% of Potlatch land will have found new ownership by the end of this year, Nelson said.

In partnership with Northern Waters Land Trust, the 8,200 acres will change hands through a multistage, $10.2 million transaction to Aitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Koochiching, St. Louis and Wadena counties.

Annie Knight, executive director of Northern Waters, said this is “a milestone moment for conservation in Minnesota to protect this many acres at one time.”

“It ensures that these forested lands stay forested and in turn provide healthy waters downstream,” Knight said.

Mark Gossman managed these forests when he worked for Potlatch in the 1990s. Now he’s the land commissioner for Cass County overseeing much of the same acreage.

“We were probably a little more aggressive with timber management then we are at the county level, so a little different landowner objectives, but a lot of the same.”

Gossman said Cass County will acquire 120 acres in this acquisition to fit into its portfolio of 255,000 acres providing more snowmobile trails, hunting and recreation — all without levying for taxes to maintain the land.

“We want it to add to the quality of life without collecting tax dollars to manage,” he said. “This is great for citizens of Cass County, and, quite frankly, all Minnesotans.”

Potlatch could have gone a different route, opting to sell land for development or agricultural purposes, Gossman said. “I mean, we all need to eat, and there’s various competing values,” he said.

PotlatchDeltic spokesperson Anna Torma said in an email that the company sold its massive footprint in the northland that 20 years ago spanned over 300,000 acres.

“We found it difficult to justify the costs of owning the land, given the demand for recreation and conservation property and the high real estate taxes,” Torma said.

The company still owns and operates a sawmill in Bemidji. She said given its existing mill it was supportive of conservation efforts maintaining the forestry.

“We support jobs directly with our Bemidji mill as well as indirect jobs related to forestry, so this effort is positive,” she said, adding that Potlatch believed the land was best suited for conservation and public use.

“Recreation is a key value for all Minnesotans, so having more public recreation opportunities is worthwhile,” she said.

Nelson, with the Conservation Fund, said since the acquisition five years ago, it worked with the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa to complete a historic transfer of 28,000 acres — nearly a third of all acquired Potlatch land.

“It was the largest land-back transaction in the country,” Nelson said. “That was an absolute highlight of my whole career. I’m sure it will be forever.”

The federal government allowed reservation land to be sold to homesteaders and timber companies as part of its assimilation plans. Potlatch eventually owned the bulk of it.

She’s worked on smaller transactions with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Nation and White Earth Nation as well.

Nelson said Northern Waters Land Trust selected scattered parcels from the immense Potlatch portfolio according to what worked with other publicly managed forest land in the nine counties.

“That is not an easy task to do,” she said. “I think it is a model for how conservation could be done at scale across the country.”

Nelson said this is ultimately “a very graceful way to to make an exit,” for Potlatch’s industrial timberland.

“Now it’s finally like a bookend. It’s open to the public. It’s almost the end of an era,” she said, “but it’s the right end to this story.”

Northern Waters received full funding from the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, as appropriated by the Minnesota Legislature.

Closings on the project will continue into the summer as counties post signage at access points to help guide public use.