Pokegama Forest Protection: A Conservation Legacy
Pokegama Forest
Red and white pine trees line the Pokegama River corridor, anchored in place by heavy clay soils. This forested landscape serves an important function, filtering water before it enters the St. Louis River Estuary, ultimately draining into Lake Superior.
Jeffrey Ballou called this 350-acre Pokegama Forest home for decades and spoke with Landmark Conservancy several times about its permanent protection. He began working with staff on a conservation easement in 2023 to place restrictions on future use of the land to protect its natural attributes.
Mixed conifers and aspen on the conserved property.
White Pine on the northern ridge along the Pokegama River.
Ballou passed away from a terminal illness the following year, however, entrusting final completion of the project to his extended family members.
The Pokegama Forest property has over 7,500 feet of seasonal and perennial waterways in ravines that filter water and drain into the Pokegama River, which joins the St. Louis River, the largest U.S. tributary to Lake Superior. The St. Louis River estuary is a 12,000-acre freshwater complex of wetlands, tributary streams, and bays that create a large and productive freshwater ecosystem.
This area of Douglas County has long been significant to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Landmark worked with the DNR and partners to protect nearly 4,000 acres of nearby Nemadji Forest in 2010, and the Pokegama Carnegie Wetlands and Upper Nemadji Floodplain Forest are nearby State Natural Areas. Keeping these clay plain forests intact is important to control sediment and limit runoff into streams and rivers, helping maintain water quality for aquatic organisms and the overall ecosystem.
The Pokegama River flows through the forested property.
The Pokegama Forest property drains into Pokegama Bay in the St. Louis River Estuary. Photo credit: St. Louis River Estuary Project.
“We hope this project encourages additional landowners – whether they are in the Pokegama River watershed or own land elsewhere – to engage in land conservation. This will help further support biodiversity, ensure clean water, reduce flood risk, and store carbon and in turn, build on the conservation legacy of people like Jeff,” shared Erika Lang, Landmark’s Conservation Manager.
This project was completed with funding from the Great Lakes Protection Fund in partnership with the Freshwater Society. As a member of the regional Greater Lakes Promise initiative, Landmark Conservancy has protected high-quality lands resulting in less runoff, less algal growth, and cleaner water for drinking, swimming, and recreation.