History of the Sternberg Forest

The Sternberg Forest is a 122 acre parcel in Marathon County, WI, that was given to the College of Natural Resources by Lawrence and Jane Sternberg, of Wausau, WI. in 1992. The Sternbergs purchased the property in three parcels during the 1950's.

An 80 acre parcel (the "South 80") was purchased from Carl and Ruth Sternberg on February 2, 1954. Prior to that, the land was owned by John and Bernard Wentzka who had purchased the land from Marathon County in 1952. Marathon County obtained the tax deed for the land on July 23, 1936. A 6 acre parcel, east of the South 80, was purchased from Oscar and Margaret Drews on October 22, 1958. This parcel was purchased from the Wisconsin Valley Land Company on June 13, 1900 by Fred and Henrietta Yankie, and had changed hands several times throughout the next 50 years.

In 1957, the Stenberg's purchased an adjacent 36 acre parcel from Clarence and Irene Stiwicki on the east side of Lea Road. In 1959, 20 acres of the "North 40" were planted into a red pine (Pinus resinosa) plantation. The remainder of this parcel is a natural woodlot, containing jack pine (P. banksiana) and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) along with thickets of raspberries (Rubus idaeus) and blackberries (R. allegheniensis).

In the 1950's, the land north of Bull Junior Creek was being used primarily for cattle pasture. Mr. Sternberg had the land surveyed by the county and fenced it in to bring back the forest and the native wildlife. He built a one room "hunting shack" in 1959 and over the years added on to build a beautiful cottage, nicknamed "The Patch". Mr. Sternberg also built a garage, barn and woodshed on the southeast corner of the "South 80". These three parcels plus the cottage and 3 outbuildings were all part of the generous gift the Sternberg's gave to the College of Natural Resources (CNR) and the UWSP Foundation.

In 1995, the cottage, outbuildings and 4.5 acres of land in the southeast corner of the South 80 were purchased from the UWSP Foundation by Don and Sue Kissinger. In 1999, the "North 40" was purchased from the UWSP Foundation by Norm & Linda Knauf. The remainder of the land is managed by the CNR and is used as a field laboratory for several natural resources courses.