"Santa & Mrs. Claus" - Ken & Carolyn Aldridge
On December 1, 2011, friends of Winter Park received an early Christmas present, one which will be long remembered. On that day, Ken and Carolyn Aldridge signed papers with the Northwoods Land Trust establishing a conservation easement on their 3,195 acre property -nearly five square miles - including 42Km of ski and snow shoe trails at the core of Winter Park.
A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust to permanently protect a property’s natural characteristics by limiting how it can be used. The land trust is committed to monitoring the land and ensuring that the easement’s terms are carried out in perpetuity.
In this particular case, the Aldridge’s have granted skiers perpetual access to the existing trails and have placed limits on forestry practices, land fragmentation, and development which will keep the land in its natural state and open to the public forever.
3195 Acres Protected by the Aldridges - WOW!
Ski trails now protected include – Base Loop, Tornado Alley, Survivor Windy Ridge, Nutcracker, Nose
Dive, Beaver Pond, Creek Trail, Red Pine, Silver Strider, Sleigh Ride, VO2 Max, Nepco’s Cruise, most of X-C Express and River Run as well as the northern half of Yukon. Much of the newly expanded snow shoe trail system is protected as well. Regarding those trails, the next step that is being worked on currently is a Trail Management Agreement that will describe the rights of trail management to be upheld by the Lakeland Ski Touring Foundation.
This is the largest gift of a conservation easement ever made in Wisconsin! Feature articles have shown up in the Chicago Tribune, The Daily Herald in Chicagoland, and the Milwaukee Journal.
