Forest Landowners_Content Page_Open Lands

Tax Law Lands Open to Public Recreation

Notice: The DNR was recently made aware of the Lac Courte Oreilles tribe's intent to effectively close their FCL and MFL lands to hunting by nontribal members. The tribe has stated they will issue tribal citations for trespass to nontribal hunters who access Lac Courte Oreilles FCL or open MFL lands. Please hunt on Lac Courte Oreilles lands at your own risk. The DNR is actively looking into the situation.

Wisconsin's forest tax laws encourage sustainable forest management on private lands by providing a property tax incentive to landowners. Some of these privately held forest lands also allow for public access for recreation. To legally access these lands for the authorized recreational uses, you need to know which program the land is enrolled in.

Consult the Hunting on Tax Law Land FAQ [PDF] for more information.

Managed Forest Law

Lands enrolled under Managed Forest Law as "open" to public access allow for hunting, fishing, hiking, sight-seeing and cross-country skiing.

Forest Crop Law

Lands enrolled under Forest Crop Law allow for public hunting and fishing.

Both tax laws require that all hunting and fishing follow the DNR hunting and fishing seasons and regulations.

View lands open to public recreation

To view the open tax law lands, you can use the Private Forest Lands Open for Public Recreation web mapping application.

Open tax law lands identified on this website from January through approximately March 2020 may not be accurate.*

You can also use the open land lists; the MFL and FCL open land lists currently reflect lands open for the 2019 calendar year (these lists show legal descriptions only). You may need to reference county plat books to identify ownership boundaries, roads, rivers, lakes and other physical land features. Plat books can be purchased from your county clerk, directly from the publisher or are available at public libraries.

Contact information

DNR tax law forestry specialists can answer questions about MFL and FCL programs. You can use the Forestry Assistance Locator to find the DNR tax law forestry specialist(s) who has responsibility for each county.

If you are a landowner who owns MFL-closed lands, non-MFL lands or non-FCL lands and you suspect the public is trespassing on your property, contact the local sheriff’s department or other local law enforcement agency. Conservation wardens do not have the authority to investigate trespassing complaints.

*The information displayed in the web mapping application is currently displaying 2019 data. From January through approximately March 2020, the data shown on the maps is from 2019. This means lands identified on this website during that time may not be accurate. Please take additional steps to ensure the land is up to date by checking the contacts provided to you. A complete update to 2020 data will occur by March 2020.