# Ottawa forest property up for sale



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Ottawa forest property up for sale
We Energies to move 11,000 acres

http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=3204

Friday, August 18, 2006 By LAURA KIRBY, DMG Writer [email protected]

IRON MOUNTAIN  Several thousand acres of shoreline lands in the Upper Peninsulas Ottawa National Forest could soon be developed, or purchased by resource agencies.

This week, We Energies, the utility subsidiary of the Wisconsin Utility Corp. announced the sale of 11,000 acres that are no longer needed for hydroelectric operations.

The company owns 40,000 acres throughout the U.P. and Wisconsin.

Considered for sale in this area are 2,000 acres at the Sturgeon River Gorge on the Baraga and Houghton county line which were acquired by the company many years ago as a potential dam site, that was never developed, We Energies principal representative Rod Miller, said.

Upstream, a similar 25,000-acre parcel in Baraga County within Covington Township is also offered.

As per the Wilderness Shores Settlement theyll be offered to state and federal resource agencies first, Miller said. 

We have had conversations with the Forest Service for them to determine their interest, he said. All of the land that we are making available weve had conversations with the State Department of Natural Resources to determine whether or not they have an interest in purchasing all or some of the 11,000 acres. Then whatever is left we would offer for sale to private buyers.

The situation is different to the areas of UPPCO lands sold amid recent controversy to developers Naterra Land, Miller said, since there are no project lands adjacent to the properties for sale. Rather, theyre miscellaneous pieces of property that have never been used as part of the companys utility business.

Some of them are adjacent to the project lands, but theyve never been part of the project, he said. In most cases these properties were acquired over the years as a condition of purchase agreements, to acquire parcels needed for ongoing operations. Acreage for sale also lies in Menominee, Dickinson, and Iron counties. The company hopes any land turned down by resource agencies would be purchased by a single buyer, Miller said.

We Energies provides energy and gas via 12 hydroelectric plants in the Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin.

For more information visit www.we-energies.com/northernland


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