BCPL owns roughly 75,000 acres,
less than 1% of the 5.9 million acres of public land in Wisconsin
. All school trust lands are open to the public for hunting, fishing, trapping, berry-picking, hiking and other recreational activities. BCPL conscientiously manages the trust lands to protect water quality and biological diversity. Snowmobile and ATV riding are allowed on designated trail networks operated by the local county.
Some school trust lands are surrounded by private property and visitors should request permission to cross private land to access them.BCPL manages the School Trust Lands as a working forest with a sustainable timber harvest program. Revenue generated by timber harvests goes into the
Normal School Fund and its earnings are dispersed to the UW System for scholarships and related programs.