Guido Rahr, Sr. Tenderfoot Forest Reserve

The 971-acre Tenderfoot Forest Reserve includes 500 acres of hemlock-hardwood old-growth forest - the largest expanse of old-growth in private ownership in Wisconsin. The preserve also protects more than four miles of undeveloped shoreline on three wild lakes in northern Wisconsin. 

Tenderfoot is a critical link in a network of public and private forest lands that make up the Border Lakes Area, which spans about 24,000 acres in Vilas County. The area harbors white pines up to 400 years old and includes wetlands, spring-fed ponds, many wild lakes and streams. 

The Border Lakes Area is also the headwaters to the Presque Isle and Ontonagon rivers. The Tenderfoot property contributes surface water and groundwater to both rivers, whose watersheds cover more than 1.25 million acres in Wisconsin and Michigan. Management of the land will play an important role in protecting water quality in these two important rivers.

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