Minnesota shaped forest: How did it get there?
The Minnesota-shaped forest is located in the Beltrami State Forest. (Photo credit: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources) (Supplied)
WILLIAMS, Minn. (FOX 9) - In northwest Minnesota there is a pine forest in the shape of Minnesota. How did it get there?
According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the shape was created in 1988 as a timber sale set up. The DNR will harvest timber from older trees in these set-ups to encourage forest and wildlife diversity and balance between the younger and older forest. The DNR will then sell the harvested timber to fund public programs.
Before the DNR started working on diversifying Minnesota forests, northwest Minnesota was covered by jack pine trees which sprouted up after fires in the 1930s, the DNR said. When the DNR started to break up the Jack pines to make room for different types of trees and plants, they created the timber sales set-ups.
These set-ups are usually rectangles, but one DNR forester decided to get creative. The forester set up the 23-acre timber sale in half a day, according to the DNR. By 2007, red pine was planted and the mature Jack pine was cut, the Minnesota-shaped forest became visible.
The DNR says the forest could be visible for more than a century, since the cycle of harvesting jack pine and red pine happens at different times.