The Merrill School Forest is owned and operated by the Merrill Area Public School District. The school forest includes 764+ acres of forest, prairie, and wetland habitats, most of which has been given to the school district as a gift by William Evjue, an 1899 Merrill graduate whose father was a lumber scaler in Merrill. Currently there are over 10 miles of maintained logging trails which double as hiking and cross country ski trails. The school forest has a 20-year forest maintenance plan, and is logged with the assistance and guidance of local DNR foresters. The money earned from logging sales helps purchase skis, snowshoes, and other major purchases to support district curriculum and other student-driven learning opportunities.

The mission of the school forest, in alignment with the goals of environmental education, is to help students become environmentally knowledgeable, skilled, dedicated citizens who are willing to work, individually and collectively, toward achieving and maintaining a dynamic equilibrium between the quality of life and the quality of the environment.

• Environmental education should be infused into all subjects and activities.

• Students should be instilled with an increasing awareness, knowledge, attitude, value, and participation (citizen action skills) for the environment and its resources.

• Learning is provided through direct hands-on experiences.

• Planned experiences and teachable moments are part of an environmental education program.

• Problem-solving and other critical thinking skills are developed in an environmental education experience.

• Each student will have opportunities to be physically and mentally challenged to develop, grow, and to achieve.

• Environmental education should be a continuous lifelong process, beginning at the preschool level and continuing through all stages of a person's life.