Forestry

The Juneau County Forest is one of 30 County Forests in the Wisconsin County Forest Association. These lands are located in central and northern Wisconsin and total over 2.4 million acres. County Forests are "working forests" managed for a multitude of benefits including:

Many forms of recreation
Timber production
Wildlife habitat
Watershed protection
Protection of rare animals, plants, and natural communities, etc.

The Juneau County Forest encompasses 17,798 acres of public land, generally located in the Northern half of the county.

The Juneau County Forest consists of a variety of forest types including:

Pine (48%)
Scrub oak (23%)
Aspen (13%)
Oak (10%)
Brush, grass, swamp, wetlands, and other non-forest (total 14%).

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, mountain biking, and sight-seeing.

The entire Juneau County Forest is open for regulated hunting with the exception of designated areas that are developed for high public use, such as Kennedy Park, Castle Rock Park and a part of Wilderness Park. Temporary hunting stands are permissible but must be removed from the forest after use. The use of nails, lag screws, screw steps, or other damaging devices is not permitted. No permanent type structures shall be permitted.

All Juneau County Forest lands are open for public use and for foot travel. ATV use on county owned land is prohibited unless stated otherwise. In addition to the town and county roads that access the forest, the county also maintains 5.6 miles of County Forest roads. A number of gated or bermed special use trails and roads are also available. Access management remains a controversial issue on the Forest. Both motorized and non-motorized recreation are provided for within the Forest. See Chapter 700 for detailed discussion on Forest access.

County Forest Plan 2021-2035