COUNTY FOREST AND PARKS INFORMATION

Forest Acreage: 130,887 acres (7th largest in Wisconsin)

Description of Forest:

Topography

Langlade County, located in the northeast part of the state, is comprised of 17 civil townships having an area of 569,128 acres. Topography of the county is the result of glacial activity. The last glacier, known as the Wisconsin Stage, deposited a large moraine, 10 to 12 miles wide and of hilly topography, arching from the northwest corner of the county, southeast to the center, and finally south to the county line. This is a very distinctive feature and is called a terminal moraine.

The vast bulk of the county forest lies north and east of this moraine. The land is rolling to hilly, with many kettle-like depressions called potholes. These depressions are often basinsfor lakes.

 

Geography

Langlade County has a land area of approximately 569,128 acres, plus another 10,696 acres of water included in lakes and streams. Approximately 62.5 percent of the land in the county is classified as forest land. The county forest, which contains approximately 126,572 acres, is the seventh largest county forest in the state.

Vegetative Cover Types

Approximately 86 percent of the county forest is forested. The remainder is primarily an open landscape comprised of wetlands, lowland shrubs, upland shrubs, bogs, lakes, streams, grassy openings, roads, rock outcroppings, and utility right-of-ways. The forest which may include endangered and threatened plants, is composed of nearly 126,572 acres, with 27 forest types comprising the commercial forest. The northern hardwood type alone comprises approximately 39 percent (42,200 acres) of the total commercial forest acreage.

Recreational Opportunities

Forest based recreation has expanded rapidly in recent years in Langlade County. Recreational opportunities providing developed facilities include parks, beaches, campgrounds, waysides, boat landings, fishing piers, primitive campsites, and snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, sled dog, mountain biking, hunter/walking, Ice Age Trail, cross-country ski, fat tire biking and snowshoe trails. The county forest also provides tremendous opportunities for informal recreational pursuits not requiring developments. These include hunting, fishing, berry and mushroom picking, bird watching, hiking, biking, and sight-seeing.

History of the Langlade County Forest

At one time, Langlade County was covered with magnificent stands of pine, hemlock, and hardwoods on the highlands, and cedar, spruce, and balsam on its lowlands. These forests provided raw material for a thriving lumbering industry from 1860 to about 1910.  As a result of the clamor to conquer the wilderness, supply lumber to house the masses, and without proper forest management, the forests were nearly completely destroyed. The logging slash was ideal for wildfires which essentially culminated with the Peshtigo fire. Immigrants rushed to these newly cleared lands hungry for a place to farm and build their lives. But in just a few years, the soils gave out and these people left to seek their fortunes elsewhere, leaving the land increasingly barren and tax delinquent. The Langlade County Forest originated with the taking of those tax delinquent lands.

Forestry, Parks and Recreation Administration: