​​​​​​​​​Public Access to BCPL Land

​​​​Public Access

Rock bottom creek flowing through a northern forest in autumn.


​The school trust lands are distinct from other public lands—such as parks or national forests—because the state’s founders declared that school trust lands would always belong to the Trusts’ beneficiaries—Wisconsin’s public education system. Our obligation is to protect and improve the health and vigor of the school trust lands for maximum, long-term financial return for these beneficiaries.

All school trust lands are open to the public for hunting, fishing, trapping, berry picking and hiking. Snowmobile and ATV riding is allowed on designated trail networks operated by the local county  Some school trust lands, however, are surrounded by private property and we urge visitors to respect private property rights by requesting permission to cross private lands to access them.  Be sure to view our important access disclaimer before accessing BCPL land. If you still have questions please contact our Forest ​Supervisor for more information​.

We are using our Land Bank Authority​​ ​to increase public access to school trust lands. Since being granted Land Bank Authority, the number of acres accessible to the public has increased by over 28%.

​​​​Maps

Map of BCPL consolidation zone ​Map of School Trust Land total acreage by county ​PDF icon indicating link will open a PDF file in a new tab​

Individual maps of BCPL ownership by county. 

In a collaborative effort with the Wisconsin DNR, BCPL managed lands are available on the interactive DNR Public Access Lands web viewer. 

To view the BCPL-specific theme, click the blue & white "I want to...." button. In the menu that pops up, click the "...display layer theme" choice. An overlay will appear in the center of the screen with available layer themes. Choose "Board of Commissioners of Public Lands" and click the "x" to close the overlay. Zoom in on the map to see BCPL-managed lands displayed in the gold color used in the BCPL logo.​​​​
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