Ottawa National Forest expanded

With the recent protection of 376 acres of land, more than 1,200 acres has been protected surrounding Prickett Lake and added to the Ottawa National Forest.  The announcement came from The Trust for Public Land and U.S. Forest Service.  The property is immediately adjacent to the iconic Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness.

The $640,000 cost of the project was met through federal funding provided by the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) over two fiscal years.

The Forest Service said protection of the land was a priority because it was an inholding, which means it had been privately-owned land within the federally protected area. The North County Scenic Trail also runs through a portion of the property.

Both upstream and downstream of Prickett Lake are designated sections of the Wild and Scenic Sturgeon River, which flows directly into Lake Superior.

The Prickett Lake property is upstream to one of the last remaining productive spawning areas for state threatened lake sturgeon in the entire Lake Superior Watershed.

For the next and final phase of the protection effort around Prickett Lake, the Forest Service is seeking $300,000 in LWCF money to complete the project.