Woodland in Stella is protected for wildlife

The many acres of forest in private hands that help make the northwoods the northwoods are increasingly threatened these days by paper company sell-offs and other consequences of a difficult economy.

It is therefore welcome news when landowners move to keep their forest lands intact, a decision Rhinelander residents Keith and Josie McCaffery recently made in partnership with the Northwoods Land Trust.

The McCafferys signed a land protection agreement, or conservation easement, to protect approximately 84 acres in the Town of Stella in perpetuity. The McCafferys have owned the land since 1976, when Keith, a Department of Natural Resources Wildlife biologist, purchased it as soon as it came up for sale. Keith often bowhunted in the area.

“Back when land was $2,000 a forty my brother told me I’d never buy any because it’d always be too expensive,” Keith laughs. “So I waited until it was $6,000 a forty.”

He and Josie hiked up a hill on the property one evening and when they saw the view northward over bordering fields, simply couldn’t pass it by.

The land contains both wooded habitat with stands of aspen, oak and pine that are enrolled in the Managed Forest Program, and grassy openings that make it popular with deer, grouse and other wildlife. Black bears are especially fond of the black cherry trees found on the property.

In addition to sandy uplands there are natural shoreland-wetlands on its eastern edge that provide critical water quality protection for nearby Jewel and Jennie Webber Creeks, which are part of a system of water courses that eventually flow into the Wisconsin River.

Jewel Creek is listed by the DNR as a Class II trout stream, with naturally reproducing brook trout. Canada yew, a rare species, is found under the hemlocks and black spruce in the shoreland-wetlands.

The planted fields north of the property are particularly attractive to deer. As many as 50 have been seen running from the potato patch onto his land, although McCaffery can’t figure out why none seemed to be there during gun season.

The property is gated, but motorists on the town road that skirts its northern and eastern sides are provided with a scenic corridor and the popular grassy openings for viewing wildlife.

In addition to hunting, Keith and Josie enjoy camping on their land, from spring “until the snow flies.” Keith notes, “One of the great amenities of the area at the present time is silence. If you go to most of our lakes, there’s constant traffic of one kind or another, winter and summer, or construction, hammering, leaf blowing; out here you can hear nature making its own sounds.” He likes putting his feet up around the fire and catching up on the magazines he’s accumulated over the winter.

Because the easement allows no subdivision and no buildings beyond small non-residential structures such as deer blinds or camping facilities, the property will remain in its undeveloped state.

Keith enjoys practicing forestry on his land. When he was a young man in Stanley, Wisconsin trying to decide on a career, he listened to good advice. “My dad always said, choose a vocation you enjoy doing in your spare time. If you can find a vocation like that, you’ve got it made.” He was interested in forestry and wildlife, and Bob Wendt, former Wildlife Manager at Ladysmith, told him to major in forestry, because it was easier to branch out from there to wildlife than vice versa.

He studied at St. Olaf College, where he met Josie, and later at the University of Minnesota. In 1963 he returned to his home state to work for the DNR as a forest-wildlife biologist, retiring in 2000 after a long and distinguished tenure. “They paid me for 37 years to do something I enjoyed, and I go back to the office every day now in my spare time because I still enjoy it.”

Josie was born in Oklahoma, the daughter of a chemical engineer who worked at refineries all over the country, but she too had Wisconsin roots: her father had been raised in Chippewa Falls and coincidentally also born in Stanley.

Asked how he’d like the property to look if he could be here 100 years from now, McCaffery expects a natural progression of the forest, probably to pine. He also finds the open areas enjoyable and hopes they’ll remain, though he understands a future owner may manage differently. “I grew up in dairy country,” he says, “where you could see across fields.”

What is his message for other landowners? He’s already planning to encourage a neighbor to follow in his footsteps and consider an easement too. Clearly, Keith and Josie McCaffery feel they’ve made the right decision, one that will help keep the northwoods the special place it is for the many generations to come.

For more information on protecting family lands, contact the Northwoods Land Trust at 715-479-2490 or on the web at northwoodslandtrust.org.