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BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY & PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING June 8, 2026 County Board Room Members Present: Fred Strand; Steve Sandstrom; Larry Fickbohm; Jeff Olsen; Sue Rosa (by Teams) Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Deanna Regan, Office Manager; Sara Hudson, Rec Coordinator; Lindley Mattson, Rec Specialist Others in Attendance: Joseph LeBouton, WI DNR; Mark Guenther, WI DNR; Ron Bergin, North End Ski Club; Mark Sutton, Friends of Tomahawk Lake; Erika Lang, Landmark Conservancy; Marty Milanowski, County Board 1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting. This meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM. LeBouton introduced Mark Guenther, new Team Leader at the WI DNR. 2. Public Comment: None. Public comment closed at 6:03 PM. 3. Approval of the May 11th Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Olsen, Fickbohm) Approve minutes and place on file. All: Yes. 4. Rec Partner Annual Report: North End Ski Club. Ron Bergin presented an annual report regarding the Ski Club’s activities and events. 5. Rec Partner Annual Report: Friends of Tomahawk Lake Park. Mark Sutton highlighted the achievements of Friends of Tomahawk Lake Park from the past year. 6. 2026 Spring Timber Sale Re-Offer. No bids on the 11 tracts offered. All are available for direct purchase. 7. Ten-Year Temporary Access Permit Renewal Requests. All four renewal requests, Bratley, Wiitala, Dougherty and Ostrander, have had no changes since last approval. Standard rates apply: $60/quarter mile of county land crossed, plus our time and mileage to inspect. Bodine recommends approval. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Olsen) Approve all access permit renewals. All: Yes. Carried. 8. Resolution: Authorizing Participation in the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Grant Program. The Department recently submitted a grant application to LWCF for improvement work at Big Rock Campground. The general resolution submitted with the application did not specifically list the LWFC grant program. This new version corrects that. MOTION: (Sandstrom, Olsen) Approve updated version of resolution. All: Yes. Carried. 9. Resolution: Accepting the Transfer of Primary Applicant Status of a Wisconsin Coastal Management Program Grant, from Ashland County to Bayfield County, and Amending the 2026 Forestry and Parks Department Budget. Landmark Conservancy is in the final stages of completing the purchase of roughly 120 acres formally owned by Northland College (Maxwell Property); roughly 80 acres are in Ashland County, and 40 acres are in Bayfield County. Landmark has secured about 60% of the acquisition costs and is currently partnering with Ashland Co. on a WI Coastal Management Program grant that would cover the remaining amount. Funds for the grant have been appropriated, and this project has received a pre-award. However, the closing date is set for Aug 1, and Coastal Grant funds (~$180k) will likely not be formally awarded until Oct 1, meaning the grant applicant would need to cover the expense until grant funds are released. Ashland Co. wants to be removed as the primary applicant on the Coastal grant to be replaced by Bayfield Co. Landmark is asking Bayfield Co. to be the primary applicant now. The goal is to own the land temporarily then transfer ownership to the DNR to become part of their White River Fisheries Area. There are some risks involved. It’s possible the Coastal grant funds are never released, and there is no timeline for the DNR to accept the land. If grant funds fall through, Landmark Conservancy would help fundraise the full remaining amount as well as help maintain the property. Bodine suggests borrowing against the current balance of the non-lapsing Land Acquisition account to temporarily cover the remaining cost until grant funds are received, resulting in no net change to the 2026 budget. Bayfield County Forestry & Parks Committee June 8, 2026 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 2 MOTION: (Sandstrom, Olsen) Forward Resolution to full County Board for approval. All: Yes. Carried. 10. Monthly Reports. a) Forestry: a. 2026 Budget. A total of just under $117k in stumpage revenue was received in May, continuing the trend of underperformance this year. However, a little over $100k has already been received in June, providing a good start to the month. To date, stumpage revenue is roughly $1.003 million; about 40% less than the three-year average for this time of year, and about 35% under budget. Harvesting activity has increased over the last few weeks, which will lead to an increase in return. Hopefully, some revenue correction will occur this summer, but we should prepare for a significant deficit this year. b. 2027 Budget. Starting work on the 2027 budget. I’m expecting a much heavier use of the FCOR account in 2027, including continuing to address a portion of the rec coordinator salary; the purchase of a used mini-excavator and possibly a used skid steer; the development of a rec grant; increase in town road aids; increased invasive species work; kickstart a wildlife action plan; revisit the development of an interpretive signing program; and addressing failed jack pine seeding sites. The goal is to allocate no more than 50% of the net available funds in 2027. c. Carbon Project. Nothing new to report. d. FCOR. Starting 2027 budget prep now. Plan to meet with Mark over the next week to look at the estimated stumpage revenue deficit and the FCOR account. Anticipating kickstarting many initiatives outlined in the FCOR in 2027, including various rec and forest management projects. e. Land Acquisition Projects. i. Big Rock. The offer to purchase was amended. Closing date was extended from June 30 to October 30 to provide more time for the Coastal grant process. Hopefully, we’ll know the status of that grant in September. ii. Stewardship. Closed on the final 40 acre parcel last week. Will begin to close out that grant soon. f. Certification Audit. The five mandatory timber sales stops have been selected. We are now in the process of establishing the audit route. Starting to spend more time prepping for the day (Aug 6), since most prep work needs to be completed well before. g. Internal Wage Analysis and Position Structuring. While the latest wage study provided recommendations for numerous adjustments to the wage scale, I felt it, like the last few studies, did not adequately capture the market for the Forestry and Parks Department. My goal was to conduct my own internal wage analysis, an internal review of the Forest Management and Recreation programs. The focus was completing a wage analysis from comparable public forestry and rec programs in the Lake States region (E/NE MN, Northern WI and Western MI). Still in the process of analyzing all the data but hope to have a summary with recommendations to share during the July meeting. h. WCFA Board Member Update. WCFA is working on increasing funding for the wildlife habitat grant, forest road aid and ATV/UTV access funding for trails. b) Parks and Recreation. There were 0 contractors at the mandatory pre-bid for the trestle repair project. We made a few tweaks to the RFP and released it again. Another pre-bid is scheduled for next Tues. If we get zero interest again, we’ll need to explore other options. c) Yurts. Yurt occupancy picked up again in June. July will be a very good month for the Bayfield yurts. d) Events. Numerous regularly occurring events have been approved over the last month. Receive reports as presented and place on file. 11. Committee Members Discussion. None. 12. Joseph LeBouton, DNR Representative, Comments: None. The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting has been scheduled for Monday, July 13th, at 6:00 PM. Meeting adjourned at 7:31 PM. Submitted by, Deanna Regan