The Kickapoo Woods Cooperative (KWC) is improving the health, value, and beauty of our forests by providing educational, forestry and marketing services in the greater Kickapoo region.Over a century of profit-based forestry has removed many of the healthiest trees, reduced diversity, left soils vulnerable to erosion and negatively affected water quality.

KWC’s strategy is to work with landowners, public and private foresters, loggers, sawmill operators and secondary wood manufacturers in the region to create a broad, positive impact from the co-op’s activities on the local forest industry and community residents.We are assisting forest owners to enhance the ecological and economic value of their woodlands, to generate income from their forests through selective harvesting, processing and marketing, and to create community benefits through locally baseddevelopment and job creation.KWC contracts with forest practitioners that meet our training requirements in safe and sustainable forestry practices to work in our members’ woods. The co-op intends to comply with Forest Stewardship Council principles for responsible forestry, which include commitments to the well-being of the forests, landownersthe local community.

KWC’s newest service is tool rental.Members can rent loppers, manual or motorized pole saws, measuring tools, and the Farmi winch, which will
pull logs out of the woods using the PTO on your tractor.

Educational events are presented year round. We import instructors from
the Forest Industry Safety Training Association (FISTA) to teach
chainsaw safety as often as necessary to provide for all who wish to take it.Coming up this fall we will have 2 introductory woods walks in October, Chainsaw Safety Training October 25, Care of Young Plantations November 6, Timberstand Improvement December 6, and Writing a Land Management Plan in January of 2004 (call for exact date).

For information on events, membership, services, or the tool rental program, contact Paul Bader, 608-625-2515, domehome@mwt.net, or by mail at KWC, PO Box 71, La Farge WI 54639.