Brock VanOss to host Forest Exploration event in Mansfield Township

Landowners looking to improve timber value, wildlife cover or overall forest health will get a local forum in Mansfield Township when Brock VanOss hosts the seventh annual Forest Exploration event Friday, June 5, at 9 a.m. at Mansfield Township Hall, 2804 M-69 in Crystal Falls, just south of Way Dam Road.

The event is aimed at practical forest management and a range of silvicultural topics, putting the focus on what private owners can do with their property and what that means for the county’s woods economy. In a place where forest decisions affect hunting opportunities, trail access, erosion control and the long-term appearance of the landscape, the discussion is likely to matter to anyone who owns acreage or depends on local resource jobs.

VanOss brings both consulting experience and township-level perspective to the table. VanOss Forestry Services, LLC says he has operated the firm since 2002, serving public and private clients in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and northeastern Wisconsin. That background fits the kind of landowner questions this event is built around, including timber stand improvement, regeneration, wildlife enhancement and other forest treatments that can shape the value and use of a parcel over time.

The Forest Exploration setting also keeps the conversation local. Mansfield Township Hall is not just the event site, it is a regular civic meeting place. Mansfield Township’s own meeting schedule lists township board meetings there on the third Wednesday of each month at 9 a.m., underscoring how often local land, tax and governance issues pass through the same room where this forestry discussion will unfold.

The Iron Baraga Conservation District’s Forestry Assistance Program helps landowners better understand, plan, manage, protect and utilize forest resources through information, education and outreach, a mission that matches the purpose of the June 5 event. The county’s forestry network is also relatively young in its current form: the Iron and Baraga conservation districts merged on Feb. 9, 2016. That institutional structure has become a key part of how landowners get help with woods management across the region.

The local stakes have shown up before in public meetings. On April 9, VanOss and the Iron Baraga Conservation District held a landowner forestry workshop at the West Iron County Public Library that focused on grants and assistance for improving property for wildlife. In March 2025, VanOss also told the Iron County Board that about 400 acres of county land had been identified that the county did not realize it owned, land valued at nearly $600,000.

Iron County’s deep ties to mining and logging, and its establishment in 1885, still shape how residents think about land use today. Forest Exploration is likely to keep that conversation grounded where it often belongs, at the township hall and on the land itself.