DNR Partners With Travel Company To Plant 100K Trees In Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Department of Natural resources is planning to plant 100,000 seedlings this spring through an agreement with a Washington state-based travel company.

The company, Orbridge, has donated $45,000 to the DNR to plant the seedlings as part of an effort to reduce its carbon footprint from its worldwide tours.

The agreement came together quickly because the company was able to work directly with DNR staff, said Meg Rice, marketing director at Orbridge.

“There are third-party companies that are out there that do very similar programs. They would be the middle man for working with the local DNR or any type of state association to do this type of initiative,” Rice said. “But we just prefer to go direct. It just worked out best for us this way.”

The state Natural Resources Board accepted the funding earlier this year.

Company officials said they’re looking to continue the Wisconsin partnership in the future, and plan to make similar agreements with other states as well.

State officials said the DNR’s Division of Forestry typically plants about a half million trees a year, so a donation worth 100,000 trees will make a big difference, according to Teague Prichard, state forest management specialist.

“There’s known project needs that are out there, that are in progress, that are going to get done, and this donation will help offset the costs of those,” Prichard said. “It also allows us to go deeper down the list of projects that we have for the upcoming year.”

The planting projects are likely to begin this spring.

DNR officials are determining where they will take place, though they’ve said the donation will likely fund planting in areas with “high regeneration needs,” such as Black River State Forest in Jackson County, Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest in Vilas County and parts of Kettle Moraine State Forest in southeast Wisconsin.