County Forests

The following disclaimer should be included on publications using the County Forests data: The data shown on this map have been obtained from various sources, and are of varying age, reliability, and resolution. This map is not an authoritative source of information about legal land ownership or public access. More detailed delineations will be produced at the department's discretion as improved information becomes available.

Abstract: In 1968 the Wisconsin County Forest Association, Inc. was established to provide a forum for the consideration of problems, programs, and policies of the county forests. Legislation which provided for the establishment of County Forests also mandated that these lands be open to the hunter, the camper, the hiker, and the bird watcher. With the exception of a few sensitive areas, there are no posted lands in our County Forests. There are over 2.3 million acres enrolled in the program, with 29 counties participating in the program. Not all forest lands owned by Counties are enrolled in the Wisconsin County Forests program.

This GIS layer is a generalized spatial representation of County Forests. Parcels smaller than 40 acres are not delineated in this layer, but are represented by the 40-acre quarter-quarter they lie within. A PLSS quarter-quarter section indicator (from Tax Law ORACLE database) was used to select quarter-quarter section polygons from the PLSS grid. This process results in polygons of 40 acres, minimum. However, the actual size of the enrolled properties may be much smaller. There is no minimum acreage for enrollments in the County Forest program.

Certain government lots or fractional lots, that cannot be represented by a PLSS quarter-quarter number, are not included in this GIS layer. An estimated 2% of the CFR lands are excluded from this layer because of this issue.

For more information on the Wisconsin County Forests program, refer to the official website: www.wisconsincountyforests.com.

User Advisory: This is a generalized spatial representation of county forest lands. County forest parcels are represented by the 40-acre quarter-quarter they lie within; however, the actual size of the property may be smaller.

Certain government lots or fractional lots, which cannot be represented by a PLSS quarter-quarter number, are not included in this GIS layer. An estimated 2% of the County Forst lands are excluded from this layer because of this issue.

Neither the Department of Natural Resources nor any of its employees shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and/or contained herein and assumes no responsibility for anyone's use of the information. Furthermore, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of any information. The Department provides this information on an "as is" basis. The Department has made reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but cannot exclude the possibility of errors or omissions in sources or of changes in actual conditions. Changes may be periodically made to the information herein; these changes may or may not be incorporated in any new version of the data. If you have obtained information from the Department from a source other than the Department, be aware that electronic data can be altered subsequent to original distribution. Data can also quickly become out-of-date. It is recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of all data, and that the originator of the data or information be contacted with any questions regarding appropriate use.

Purpose Description: To map the general locations of Wisconsin's County Forests.

Access Constraints: None

Use Constraints: None

Currentness Reference: 4/16/2010

Geographic Extent: Statewide

Native Data Environment: ArcView version 9.3

Maintenance Update Frequency: Annually

Progress Type: Complete

Date: 2010

Process Step Description: PLSS Quarter-Quarter Section indicators from the Bureau of Forestry's ORACLE database were matched to the 24K LANDNET to produce the County Forest GIS layer. Enrolled lands that are smaller than 40 acres are represented by the entire quarter-quarter section. Government or fractional lots that can not be tied to a quarter-quarter section are not represented in the layer.

Citation Information:

Originator:

Title:

Data Presentation Form:

Publisher:

Contact Information:

Contact Person:

Organization:

Title:

Mailing Address:

Phone:

Fax:

Email: