Beltrami County covers a total of 1.9 million acres which includes 362,887 acres of lakes and 459,851 acres of state forest land. The county owns and manages approximately 147,000 acres of forestland within the county, much of located south of the Red Lake area. Beltrami County Natural Resource Management's mission is to responsibly manage these lands in a sustainable manner that benefits the citizens of the county. The department is committed to a sustainable harvest and multiple use management of its lands and recognizes the impacts its activities can have on aesthetics, wildlife, riparian areas, cultural resources, soils, and water quality. In 2005, Beltrami County partnered with Becker, Carlton, Clearwater, Crow Wing and Koochiching counties to begin the process of achieve third party certification of their forest management practices with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and/or the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC). Certification will help assure the public that we are committed to the principles of sustainable forest management and will manage these lands in accordance with those principles. This system will help us document we are managing for long term economic sustainability but also for social and environmental interests. Also, in 2005, Beltrami County Board authorized the Headwater's Regional Development Commission to prepare a county-wide recreational trails plan. A Recreation Resource Manager will coordinate the plan with the help of local user groups.