KAS Establishes Forestry Commission to Manage, Utilize 800 Acres of School Property

By Josh Green

KAS School Board Trustee

Did you know? Kingsley Area Schools owns 815 acres of forested property, containing a multitude of natural features and wildlife species! KAS established a forestry commission in April. Their first task was to hire a forester to make an assessment, write a management plan, and provide ideas for use.

The 483+ acre Hill Farm property

The Forestry Commission hired Daniel Schillinger with Schillinger Forestry, LLC. Our next steps are to meet with the forester once initial field work is complete and discuss goals that would make sense for each property. 

The diversity within and between the properties allow us to make goals that can provide a wide range of services to our students, including education, recreation, public use, and even research. 

Forester's notes and observations on the Garfield property

For example, the property on Sparling has the potential to create a cross country track or an obstacle course. Another example comes out of the 1998 Forest Management plan which talks about having a nature center on the property on Garfield road. 

In fact, the high school’s logging class completed a building that could be used as a nature center. The amazing biodiversity of the Garfield property creates a perfect space to host a nature center focused on student education.

We are excited to continue working on this!

Students on the forested trail behind the high school