Wisconsin Stewardship Demonstration Forests

Wisconsin has 12 stewardship demonstration forests (SDF) scattered across the state. These forests demonstrate sustainable forest management and responsible stewardship while also using these lands as educational tools for students, private woodland owners and professional foresters. The SDF program also provides an opportunity to demonstrate active timber management and sustainable forest management.

The stewardship demonstration forests are maintained by local DNR foresters who use accepted DNR silvicultural management techniques to manage the forests.

Background

Originally named "Timber Harvest Demonstration Forests," these areas were established in the 1940s to demonstrate growing timber and woodlot management to farmers. Over the years, the emphasis changed to include total ecosystem management and education, and in 1990 they were renamed "Stewardship Demonstration Forests" to reflect their use to educate the general public about managing land for multiple benefits.

Landowner education and general public awareness about sustainable forestry may be more important now than it was in the 1940s when the SDF program first began. The number of private woodland owners has at least doubled, so the value of these forests as educational tools is immense.

Locations

There are now 12 stewardship demonstration forests for a total of 1,054 acres in Wisconsin. They vary in size from 32 to 437 acres. View a large map for further details [PDF].