A six-mile portion of the North Country National Scenic Trail Corridor traverses the property, linking Pattison State Park in Wisconsin with Jay Cooke State Park in Minnesota. The property also provides the public with opportunities for hunting, fishing, trapping, cross-country skiing, paddling and other types of passive recreational experiences.

The property consists of forestland, wetlands and streams that are home to a number of wildlife species including gray wolf, American marten, wood turtle, bald eagle and a variety of migratory birds. It also includes six miles of frontage on the Nemadji River, which contains a significant component of western Lake Superior’s fishery habitat. The tributaries entering the Nemadji River on the property feed the river’s warm-water sport fishery where approximately 51 species of fish either live or traverse its waterways.

Protecting this property enhances the quality of the St. Louis River, one of the nation’s largest freshwater estuaries, which was designated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) in October 2010.

“The Nemadji River is a remarkable resource and we applaud Douglas County residents and the county supervisors for recognizing this as an opportunity to enhance the quality of life for all Wisconsinites,” said Tom Duffus, upper Midwest director of the Fund. “We couldn’t have done this without state and federal support and the cooperation of Wausau Paper, who has been a great steward of the land for a century.”

Learn More

Places We Protect: Wild Havens