State Trust Lands contain some of the last vestiges of Wisconsin’s native landscape and harbor a disproportionate share of remnant old-growth including white pine, hemlock, and hemlock/hardwood forest.  Some properties also contain high quality, diverse aquatic habitats including spring ponds and undeveloped lakeshore.  Many of these areas have seen minimal to no human disturbance and are in relatively pristine condition. Historically, the Bureau of Endangered Resources acquired several ecologically significant State Trust Lands that were subsequently designated as State Natural Areas. However, many high priority sites remain subject to the fiduciary responsibilities and potentially fluctuating legislative demands obligated by the State Land Trust’s statutory requirements.  Thus, long-term protection of these ecologically significant sites is still in doubt.

In 2004, the State Lands office of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, in conjunction with the Bureau of Endangered Resources, completed an inventory of their lands (over 80,000 acres statewide, mostly in the north).  This survey documented twenty-six rare animal species on State Trust Lands, including seven Wisconsin State Threatened Species and twenty Species of Greatest Conservation Need, including sixteen birds, one reptile, two mammals, and one invertebrate.

The data from these surveys are currently being extracted, processed according to NHI protocols and standards, and entered into the NHI database.  The entered data will be analyzed and used by DNR staff to identify those sites for which additional conservation actions are warranted.  Other partners will be consulted to identify and implement means by which the most significant lands could be transferred to the appropriate managers for ensuring their long-term protection.  This project is an important step in conserving Wisconsin’s Species of Greatest Conservation Need and by preserving the unique and increasingly rare forest and aquatic habitats that they and many other species depend on.