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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division will celebrate the acquisition of the 2,751-acre Camp Lake property in Cass County on June 12, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., at the Trelipe Township Hall, 3669 County Road 55 NE, near Remer.

The event is open to the public and will include a brief ceremony with representatives from the DNR, The Nature Conservancy, Cass County and Potlatch Corporation, followed by lunch and a tour of the Camp Lake site.

The property was donated to the DNR by The Nature Conservancy, which purchased it with more than $3 million in private funds raised as part of the Minnesota Forest Legacy Partnership, a coalition that includes business and conservation groups along with the DNR.

The groups worked together to conserve more than 338,000 acres of industrial forestland to provide wildlife habitat, protect jobs and ensure public access for outdoor recreation.

The Conservancy purchased the property from the Potlatch Corp. in 2012. In 2013, the Conservancy donated the property to the DNR Forestry Division to help consolidate publicly-owned forest land for wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation.

The property is adjacent to more than 200,000 acres of land owned by the county, DNR and U.S. Forest Service, and provides habitat for white-tailed deer, black bear, timber wolf and ruffed grouse. It also contains mixed forests of pine, hardwoods, small ponds and wetlands and more than 3,000 feet of shoreline on Camp Lake. More than half of the property is within the Leech Lake watershed. The land includes more than 5 miles of grant-in-aid snowmobile trails. The donation also increased opportunities for hunting, fishing and paddling along undeveloped shoreline, hiking, bird watching and other activities.

"We're extremely honored to receive this land donation from The Nature Conservancy," said DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr. "This Potlatch tract provides a key opportunity to help protect critical forest habitat in Minnesota's Northwoods."

Protecting this land will buffer the publicly owned forests from incompatible non-forest uses as well as provide trail and other recreational linkages between public lands and waters, added Landwehr.

The Conservancy, which has helped protect more than 677,000 acres in Minnesota since 1958, is one of the world's leading conservation organizations and helps protect lands and waters throughout the United States and in more than 35 countries.

"Minnesota is blessed with beautiful, productive forests and clean, abundant fresh water," said Peggy Ladner, director of The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota. "What we do on the land impacts our waters. We have to take action to keep them healthy for people and nature today and for future generations."

Those interested in attending the event must RSVP by June 10 to Jeannette Wolmutt at [email protected] or 218-947-3232, ext. 221. People interested in the Camp Lake tour will need a high clearance vehicle or truck to navigate the road into the site.

For more information on the Forest Legacy Program, visit dnr.state.mn.us/forestlegacy.

For more information on The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota, visit www.nature.org/minnesota.

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