Land Conservation Leadership Award

Gathering Waters Conservancy, a group dedicated to preserving and maintaining Wisconsin's nature, is hosting their annual Land Conservation Leadership Awards Celebration Thursday September 26th at Monona Terrace.

One of the honorees is Dan Lemke, Senior Land Manager for Plum Creek, who will receive the Rod Nilsestuen Award for Working Lands Preservation for his work in preserving 60,000 wooded acres in Wisconsin. See this blog entry at the wisconsinlandtrusts.org about Mr. Lemke's efforts to protect Wisconsin's woodlands Sustaining the Lifeblood of Our Great State: A Thank You to Dan Lemke

Learn more about the Gathering Waters Conservancy and see all of this years award winners at their website Gathering Waters Conservancy

Follow us on Twitter

Care of Your Wooded Property

Once you find your wooded acreage, you'll need to manage the trees to keep maximum value. 

Here is an article from the UW Extension Learning Store with details about managing forest land and harvesting trees, why it's a good idea and ways to do it.  Wisconsin Woodlands - Harvesting and Forest Management

Looking for wooded acreage?  Check out listings from 15 to 1000+ acres on BuyWisconsinLand.com

Tax Deductions

The items you can deduct on your taxes when you own vacant land versus improved properties are can be different and sometimes fewer. Check out this article by Solomon Portesky at eHow to be sure you find all the deductions you can use when you own raw land as an investment property.

With all of the discussion of the benefits of home ownership, it becomes easy to forget that these benefits apply, in one form or another, to just about any type of real estate ownership. This can include the ownership of raw land. Whether held for investment or residential purposes, a parcel of land comes with a number of tax deductions built-in.

Full Story Land Property Tax Deductions

Check out our large wooded acreages BuyWisconsinLand.com

Zoning

In Wisconsin Zoning is the job of local communities. Here is a short article from the UW-Madison Land Information and Computer Graphics Facility website describing Wisconsin Zoning.

In Wisconsin, zoning power is granted to counties, towns, cities, and villages. Each of these units has geographic boundaries. In some cases, zoning power is exercised over part of the lands within a community’s boundaries. In other cases, all the lands within the jurisdiction are zoned. In still other cases, zoning power is exercised over areas outside the local jurisdiction's boundaries. This latter activity is called "extraterritorial zoning."  

There are some distinctions between who is authorized to do general zoning and who is authorized to do special purpose zoning. General zoning addresses a variety of public purposes and objectives. Special purpose zoning addresses specialized concerns or special geographic areas such as lands around airports and lands along rivers or lakes. In Wisconsin, the principal forms of special purpose zoning are agricultural preservation zoning, shoreland zoning, and floodplain zoning.

See Full Story 1.1  Zoning Powers and Responsibilities:  Wisconsin Counties, Towns, Cities and Villages

For Local Zoning information, visit our Local Travel and Government page on BuyWisconsinLand.com

Statewide Shoreland Zoning Standard Hearings

New minimum standards for shoreland zoning are being proposed, and the public is invited to comment. Public hearings have been scheduled in August and comments will also be accepted by email and mail until September 5th.  See this article from the Wisconsin DNR for more details.

MADISON – Proposed changes to minimum statewide shoreland zoning standards aimed at providing more flexibility for property owners and making the standards easier for counties to implement are the topic of public hearings in August. People also may file comments electronically or by U.S. mail through Sept. 5.

Since Wisconsin revised the minimum statewide shoreland zoning standards in 2009, some counties expressed concerns that the revisions would be administratively difficult to implement and enforce, according to Russ Rasmussen, deputy administrator for the Department of Natural Resources Water Division.

Full Story Public hearings set on changes to statewide shoreland zoning standards

Find waterfront properties here BuyWisconsinLand.com

Mortgage Rates on the Rise

After all time lows, it seems mortgage rates are once again rising, reaching a two year high this week. Check out the story by Les Christie at CNN Money.

Rates climbed 0.22 percentage points to 4.51% for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan this week, the highest it has been since July 2011. Meanwhile, the average rate for a 15-year loan hit 3.53%, up 0.14 percentage points.

Full Story Mortgage rates reach highest level in 2 years

Follow us twitter.com/buywisland

Wisconsin's Lands

If you are interested in land conservation or recreational land in Wisconsin, this book is for you.  Written in 2006, the Wisconsin Land Legacy Report details places and needs of Wisconsin to keep our natural heritage safe for generations to come.

Visit the Wisconsin DNR website for more information about the report or find where you can get a copy for yourself. Wisconsin Land Legacy Report

Happy 4th of July from all of us at BuyWisconsinLand.com