May 05, 2014 08:31 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's College of Natural Resources was gifted a 39-acre forest in the town of Hull by the family of late George and Jeanette Roger to be used as an outdoor laboratory for education, demonstration and research purposes.

"We are grateful to the Rogers family for this generous gift, and we are honored to carry on the legacy of stewardship that George started more than 60 years ago," Christine Thomas, dean of the UWSP College of Natural Resources, said in a press release. "This forest has been extremely well managed and is exactly the type of woodland property we look for in a field teaching site."

The family, long dedicated to conservation, purchased the property in 1950. Over the years, they planted more than 40,000 red pine seedlings and 500 white pine seedlings.

George Roger believed that the forest can act as a learning module for forest management students. He always wanted the property to remain green, regardless of its owner.

 "Dad believed that preserving green spaces in an increasingly urbanized landscape is a top priority for maintaining quality of life in Portage County," Jim Rogers, the couple's son,  said in the news release.

NCCT's Executive Director Betsy Kerlin has promised to maintain the property for the pleasure and advantage of students and the public.

In February, Richard Schneider, a retired UWSP art professor, donated 51 acres of woodland to the Portage County Parks Department to enlarge the Jordan Park northeast of Stevens Point.

"I'm on in years, and don't really need the land anymore," Schneider said. "It's a place our family has enjoyed, and I wanted to see it used to benefit the community," Stevens Point Journal reports.

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