History and Background
Steinhaugen, Inc. is a family-owned corporation, founded in 1980, by Herman F. Olson. The objective of the corporation is the management of 280 acres of forested and non-forested land for the purposes of timber and wildlife production. Herman Olson, who passed away in July 2004, acquired the former dairy farm in 1966 and followed a program of timber stand improvement through harvesting of mature and defective stems. In addition, a portion of the non-forested area was reforested through the establishment of plantations. Other lands have been managed as open areas and planted fields for wildlife management areas.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), through its county foresters, has provided active assistance in programs of planting, marking timber, and management planning. In 1979, 160 acres of this land were entered into the Woodland Tax Law program. That program has since expired, but 80 acres are now enrolled in the similar Managed Forest Law program. In 1984 and 1992, the lands of Steinhaugen, Inc. were used in demonstration forest programs.
The UWSP/CNR has utilized the lands of Steinhaugen, Inc., for a variety of academic purposes which have included: surveying; timber measurements and log scaling; tree, wildlife, and soils identification; etc. A Memorandum of Agreement between Steinhaugen, Inc., the UWSP/CNR, and the Wisconsin DNR was signed in 1985 and updated in 2005. This Agreement has guided the use and management of the property to date.The Olson Family -- A Legacy of Support for the College of Natural Resources
The Olson Family -- A Legacy of Support for the College of Natural Resources
Steinhaugen, Inc., has supported the UWSP/CNR over the past 20 years by providing an outdoor laboratory for a variety of classes, which have included: timber measurements and log scaling; tree, wildlife, and soils identification; forest protection; hydrology; and surveying.
A family-owned corporation, Steinhaugen, Inc., was founded in 1980 by Herman Olson and his sons to manage the property. The 280-acre parcel has a variety of forest types, wetlands, and open fields which make the property especially useful for CNR classes. Herman, who passed away in July 2004, and his wife Beatrice acquired the former dairy farm in 1966. Beatrice found the property on a trip they made to Stevens Point where Herman attended a wildlife conference at USWP.
Herman consistently supported the CNR programs by inviting classes to use the property, having the SAF student chapter harvest pulp wood, and encouraging the CNR faculty to help meet wildlife management objectives, primarily through the harvesting of excess deer. He donated his collections of the Journal of Forestry and Wildlife Journal (which dated back to the start of the journal) to the CNR to be housed at Treehaven. A Memorandum of Understanding between Steinhaugen, Inc., the UWSP/CNR, and the Wisconsin DNR was signed in 1985 and has guided much of the use and management of the property. The Memorandum of Understanding was updated in June 2005 between Herman's three sons and the UWSP/CNR.
In 2005, approximately five forestry, soils, and hydrology classes are using the property for a total of over 2500 hours of laboratory studies. In addition, individual student projects are being conducted on Steinhaugen, which is conveniently located eleven miles from the CNR campus. The Forest Mensuration class has conducted all of their field work at Steinhaugen since Dr. Bob Rogers started teaching the class in the 1980s. Herman's son Richard taught the class in fall 2005, including using the data from a set of 100 oak trees that Dr. Rogers and students have been measuring for over the past 10 years.