February 20, 2023 at 12:00 p.m.
Hazelhurst adopts resolution protesting Pelican River Forest land purchase
By Trevor Greene-
As previously reported by The Lakeland Times, the Natural Resources Board approved the acquisition of what is now known as the Pelican River Forest in October of 2022. According to the DNR, the land would be managed for conservation and public recreational use.
In early January, the state legislature's joint finance committee blocked the sale and Senator Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said one of the reasons she opposed the purchase was because it would take income away from towns by eliminating land on property tax rolls - the primary source of a town's revenue.
As noted in Hazelhurst's resolution, nearly 55,000 acres of the Pelican River Forest are in Oneida County.
Even though none of the Pelican River Forest is in Hazelhurst, the town's resolution argues the purchase would negatively affect all of Oneida County because the debt the state will go into from the purchase will "further burden the future generations" of the county's taxpayers.
Hazelhurst town chairman Ted Cushing told the Times towns the Pelican River Forest is in were contacted via letter by the DNR informing those town chairs of the easement purchase in September.
The letter includes contact information for the department's Rhinelander office and Cushing said town chairmen who attempted to contact the office were unsuccessful because "there was no answer or call back."
He said there is now a "campaign" to persuade all Oneida County town boards to adopt resolutions in protest of the land purchase and notify the legislature.
According to Cushing, property taxes are paid on "only 35,000 acres in Oneida County."
"All the rest is forestry and DNR owned," he said. "Small towns need that land so it can be developed to build a tax base."
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