Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Rec. Area reaches half of funds needed to match fishing pier grant

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By LeAnn R. Ralph

Editor’s Note: LeAnn R. Ralph serves on the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area Management Committee

COLFAX  — With donations made by the Bergeson family in memory of Keith Bergeson, the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area has raised half of the funds needed to complete the 50-50 match for the fishing pier.

The Bergeson family gathered at the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area on the afternoon of July 18 to make the presentation.

“We appreciate your generosity and thinking of the Preserve,” said Katherine Stahl, Town of Colfax resident and chair of the CRCPRA Management Committee.

The Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area covers approximately 150 acres.

The fishing pier is located on the north side of the road going into the Preserve on the bank of Ferry Pond. The railing has spaces to make it easier for someone seated in a wheelchair to fish from the pier, and there is a concrete walkway constructed according to specifications by the Americans With Disabilities Act leading from the asphalt road at the Preserve to the fishing pier.

“We are really excited about making a handicapped accessible fishing spot but also just a nature spot. The Preserve is not very handicapped accessible, so this is the entryway,” Stahl said.

CRCPRA received a $26,000 grant from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to install the pier. The grant covers half the cost of installing the pier and laying concrete at the appropriate grade for handicapped accessibility to the fishing pier and to a handicapped accessible picnic area and picnic table.

The fishing pier was installed this spring by Anderson Bridges using materials supplied by Anderson Bridges and Timber Technologies.

Both companies are located in the Colfax Industrial Park.

The Colfax Red Cedar Preservation and Recreation Area entrance is located just west of the Village of Colfax on State Highway 170, fire number E8509. 

Keith Bergeson passed away unexpectedly January 22, 2024, at the age of 52.

Along with the donations they presented, the Bergeson family also installed a bench, built by Jerry Bergeson in memory of Keith, that was placed in shady area overlooking Ferry Pond.

Keith’s son, Nick, enjoys going fishing, an activity he shared with his dad, and selected the spot so people could enjoy fishing from the bench.

In addition to donations from the Bergeson family, other donations have been received from individuals as well as a $1,000 donation from the Bloomer Lions Sportsmen’s Club.

Land management

Many people have contributed to the development of the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area, including Julia Chapman, a professor at UW-Stout in Environmental Studies and Keith Gilland, also a professor at UW-Stout in Environmental Studies, Stahl said.

Chapman has taken groups out in the Preserve for the Science Exploration Day held in May for students of all ages, but especially for second through sixth graders, she said.

Chapman also has burned vegetation, cut down trees and has pulled invasive species. Gilland is a member of the CRCPRA Management Committee and has done quite a lot of work at the Preserve as well, Stahl said.

“We did a wetland delineation survey (at the Preserve) last year. We have had Capstone projects out here,” Chapman said.

“We have done vegetation surveys, and students have studied deer populations using trail cams to figure out deer movement,” she said.

“It’s really a great place for students to get experience doing hands-on land management,” Gilland said.

“We’re always trying to make better habitat. Bird habitat. Game habitat. And to do what we can to make it accessible to get people out in nature, projects like this for accessibility and Science Exploration Day,” he said.

“This is a fantastic community asset, and it is what it is because of the community. We have students out here and we get lots of community volunteers who show up for workdays, to cut Buckthorn and to spread seeds and collect seeds. We’ve got Scout groups out here and Geo-caching groups out here,” Gilland said.

Verdon and Mosey

Two CRCPRA Management Committee members who were unable to attend on July 18 were Paul Verdon and Mark Mosey. 

Verdon, a retired middle school science teacher from the Menomonie school district, and Mosey, a retired biology teacher from Colfax High School, both lead groups during Science Exploration Day.

Verdon and Mosey also have both been out at the Preserve to cut trees and brush, pull invasive species and to do any of a number of other tasks needed.

Verdon took the lead on the coordination of installing the fishing pier.

Mosey regularly updates the white board at the entrance of the Preserve to let visitors know about the birds and wildlife that have been spotted recently.

Colfax fire dept.

Additional community involvement at the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area has included the Colfax Community Fire Department.

“The fire department has helped with prescribed burns, and that is a really special thing that doesn’t happen in all areas — to help us with our burns to manage vegetation,” Gilland said.

“It’s been really rewarding to be able to be involved, to see people enjoy it. There’s never not someone out here when I’m out here,” he said.

Early on, the CRCPRA Management Committee was seeking someone to manage a controlled burn at the Preserve to help with prairie restoration.

While there are companies that specialize in doing controlled burns, the service is expensive.

When it was suggested that the Colfax Community Fire Department might be willing to help,  fire department members readily agreed.

Dean Logslett, chair of the Town of Colfax, has been a member of the Colfax fire department for many years.

The prescribed burns at the Preserve serve two purposes: to control vegetation and as a training exercise for members of the fire department in dealing with grass and brush fires.

Gary Hill is currently the fire chief in Colfax and took over several years ago from Don Logslett, who had served as the fire chief for about 10 years.

All ages

One of the advantages of the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area is that is appealing to people of all ages and interests.

From people who like to go fishing, to those who want to go for a hike, to those who want to sit quietly and enjoy the outdoors, to bird watchers, to people who like to snowshoe in the winter, and those who like wildflowers and other native vegetation — there is something for everyone.

“I love the range of ages of people who come out here. There is something for everybody,” Stahl said.

“You talk about a work day. We had a three-year-old out here broadcasting seed. It was as cute as you could possibly imagine,” she said.

The CRCPRA Management Committee welcomes all volunteers. Just as there is something for everyone to enjoy at the Preserve, there also is something for everyone in the way of volunteering, even if you only have an hour or two to spare.

Many hands

In addition to the work by Anderson Bridges and Timber Technologies, a variety of community members helped with installing the fishing pier as well.

Logslett and Tyler Knutson, patrolman for the Town of Colfax, completed much of the excavation work for the fishing pier.

“It’s a little bit of everyone’s involvement. During the concrete work, I think half of Colfax was out here,” Stahl said.

“We had a lot of help,” Logslett noted.

And if it were not for Stahl, and her husband, Lee Boland, also a member of the CRCPRA Management Committee, there would not be a fishing pier or even a Preserve.

Boland worked on gathering information, specifications and the design of the fishing pier. 

Stahl wrote the application for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service application.

But even at the beginning, Stahl and Boland worked on coordinating with Landmark Conservancy and obtaining Knowles-Nelson Stewardship funds.

The property originally had been owned by Dunn County and was used as a gravel pit beginning in the 1970s.

Before that, it was a farm operated by the Forest Ferry family. 

When the Preserve was still owned by Dunn County, people would enter the property to fish and to hike, even though they were trespassing on county property.

Johnne Smalley, a Town of Colfax resident who was instrumental in the early process of obtaining the property, has told the story about being out at the gravel pit one day when a county employee saw her.

Smalley explained why she was out there — that a group of people were interested in acquiring the property for public use — and the county employee offered to show her around.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The property was purchased from the Dunn County Highway Department using a Wisconsin Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Grant and with donations from Town of Colfax residents.

According to a resolution approved by the Dunn County Board, Landmark Conservancy was tasked with having the property appraised and then would make an offer to purchase for one-half of the appraised value, estimated at $146,000.

When the county’s 2019 budget was approved, revenue from the sale of what was known as the Ferry Pit property was estimated at $360,000, so the approximately $200,000 difference in budgeted revenue was expected to be made up out of the highway department’s fund balance.

An open house was held at the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area in June of 2021, after the property had formally been acquired and deeded over to the Town of Colfax.

Anyone wishing to help with the remaining fund raising for the fishing pier can send donations to the Town of Colfax, N8409, County Road M, Colfax WI 54730.