Don Behm

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The public now has access to several miles of undeveloped shoreline along the clear waters of Katherine Lake in Oneida County as part of a donation of 430 acres of forest and wetland valued at $12 million.

The gift from the Yawkey Lumber Co. of the Town of Hazelhurst to the Northwoods Land Trust includes the largest amount of natural lakeshore, nearly 4.4 miles, ever given to a land trust in the state. It also includes a stand of old-growth white pines rising majestically above the lake's southern bay, Northwoods Land Trust Executive Director Bryan Pierce said.

Tigertail Point, the steep-sloped southern end of a peninsula jutting into the lake from the east shore, and its northern climax forest mix of remnant pine, sugar maple and eastern hemlock, and three nearby islands, are part of the donation by the five remaining company shareholders.

Their gift has been named the Yawkey Forest Reserve.

The shareholders — all great-grandchildren of C.C. Yawkey, a lumberman who founded the company in 1893 — wanted to preserve the last remaining undeveloped shoreline on the 590-acre lake, and keep intact its scenic beauty for future generations, company president Robert Hagge Jr. said.

Viewed from the water, the unbroken tree line on the 4.4 miles of protected shore "gives you a sense of peace and quiet," Hagge said. That solitude is more visible after dark.

"I've spent a lot of time on the lake at night," he said. "You cannot see lights from some spots on the water."

Hagge, a company shareholder, is a spokesman for the others, all relatives. They agreed to wrap up this package of 23 separate parcels recently appraised at a total of $12 million into one donation to the land trust in order to preserve the whole, he said.

"We have been thinking about what to do with this property for some time," Hagge said. "We wanted to carry on the tradition our great-grandfather had in trying to keep the scenic beauty of Lake Katherine."

"We were in the lucky position of being able to do this," he said.

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"This is truly an exceptional gift for all future generations on a highly scenic, clear water lake in northern Wisconsin," Pierce said.

All of the 430 acres have been owned by the company for 125 years, its trees allowed to grow mostly untouched over that time, and now the natural shorelines and mature forests will be protected forever by the land trust.

Familiar up north landmark

If the lake name and its forested landscape sound familiar, that is because generations of northbound families have driven over the southern end of the lake on state Highway 51 on the way to Minocqua and other up north destinations. The main body of water and Tigertail Point can be seen to the right from a highway bridge south of Hazelhurst, with the lake's South Bay and the old growth pine stand to the left.

Bicyclists and hikers on the Bearskin State Recreational Trail — located on the former Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul rail line that once served the lumber company's saw and planing mills — skirt South Bay and the southwest edge of the former Yawkey property. Next summer, trail users will be able to walk into the old growth or over to the bay shore.

A canoe access is located northwest of the highway bridge on the north shore of South Bay.

The main public boat access on the west shore of the lake, off Oneida Street, is the site of the lumber company's former sawmill.

Tigertail Point is accessible by exiting Highway 51 at Mill Road and then turning north on South Shore Drive, Pierce said. Follow the pavement along the shore north to a left turn onto an old road leading to the peninsula. Tigertail Point is at the dead end.

Hagge has a map hand drawn in the 1930s by his mother, Alice, showing the lake and its bays. The map includes unofficial names the family gave to several islands. "Pink Island" is immediately south of the point.

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The state Department of Natural Resources says the lake is home to muskies, walleyes, smallmouth and largemouth bass, and panfish.

Hagge said the families see an occasional wolf, as well as bobcats, coyotes, foxes and deer.

There is one bald eagle nest on the lake and the eerie calls of loons, from tremolo to haunting wail, are heard "quite a bit," he said.

The three islands included in the company's gift will not be open to the public because they protect loon nesting sites and are considered critical wildlife habitat, Pierce said. A few other parcels will remain closed to the public — and marked with signs — to protect natural resources that are sensitive to disturbance.

A large majority of the property will be open to non-motorized recreation, including hiking, birding, snowshoeing, hunting and fishing.

"We look forward to carrying on the Yawkey Lumber Co. family's tradition of conserving this unique resource in the Northwoods," Pierce said.

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