Forestry Works

The Kickapoo Woods Cooperative (KWC) began in 2000 when a group of neighbors in Vernon County met in a local farmer's barn and decided to join together to better manage their forests. They saw a need for the timber resources in this area to be managed in a way that is beneficial to the environment while at the same time producing needed goods that would support the local economy. They looked to examples of wood cooperatives which had gone before them that had chosen the scheme of harvesting timber from their members' properties and tried to process the wood into products that had added value. This did not prove to be the best way to function as a woods cooperative because the operating structure needed too much capital/ inventory and some of the members had little interest in cutting the amount of trees needed to sustain such a business. Instead, KWC focused their efforts and ambitions on forest management and education. A grant from the Kickapoo Valley Reforestation Fund through the Nuzum's Foundation allowed the Co-op to contract with management and education coordinators. Using word of mouth, direct contact, educational field days and seminars, the Co-op began to grow. In 2008, it had just over 265 members owning over 27,000 acres in nine counties all in Kickapoo Valley and neighboring watersheds.

KWC works together with conservation organizations, Wisconsin DNR, county agencies, sawmills, loggers, secondary wood manufacturers, other natural resource professionals, and especially the KWC member landowners to create a positive long-term impact on the local forest resource and community. The Co-op is devoted to principles of sustainable forestry management that provide us with regeneration of trees; perpetual wood products; maintenance of soil, water, and air resources; continual wildlife habitat; and enjoyment of the natural world. Sustainable forestry dictates that as a resource is used it should be replaced by an equal amount of the resource grown - in a manner that will never come to an end. It uses scientific principles to manage land to allow for continuous deviations while keeping all ecosystem functions in place. Sustainable forestry recognizes human values along with the intrinsic value of land and nature.

Applying a pay-as-you-go model, KWC has been slowly developing its services to make sure that its business is as sustainable as the forests under its charge. New features to the Co-op include member signs, an expanded forestry store, and a new website - www.kickapoowoods.org. Both the management services and educational field days continue to be popular with members and non-member landowners. Field days and workshops in the past have included introductory woods walks, forestry tools demonstrations, picking and managing healthy trees in the woods, shiitake & maple syrup production, sawmill tours, seminar on forest tax/accounting, tornado damage salvage operation, oak wilt occurrence, firewood utilization, invasive species identification, and chainsaw safety classes (which is held twice a year). Often the Co-op will work with landowners who are new to owning forest land who are interested in starting their journey in getting acquainted with this rural area. Other times the Co-op needs to be more skilled and work with landowners and loggers on how to properly conduct timber harvests. Some members still want to do their own labor in their woods and KWC assists and encourages them to safely work and find their own niche in the production of wood and non-wood forest products.

The KWC board of directors is a group of dedicated Wisconsin landowners and the membership is active and eager to learn. A sense of growing and learning together pervades the entire membership as they keep true to the basic premise of a cooperative. The Co-op is pleased with its accomplishments so far but wants to expand and grow its ranks so it can be more effective and efficient for many generations. It is a goal that the successors of the current leaders of the Co-op help manage the forests of children and grandchildren of current members. KWC is gladly taking in new members as the message of sustainable forestry is growing in Southwest Wisconsin.