So little of Minnesota's once-vast pine forests remain

It's sad and troubling to think only 15,000 acres remain of the original old-growth pine forests in Minnesota. That is less than 1 % of the formerly vast forest habitat that took hundreds of years to grow.

The magnitude of clearing that took place throughout much of the Upper Midwest between the mid-1800s and 1930 is hard to imagine. The few remaining tall stands of white and red pines are something of an accident. They were somehow missed by the lumber barons, or saved by concerned and caring citizens.

Most of the central and northern parts of Minnesota, which is now covered with aspen, sugar maple, paper birch and the shorter jack pine, were home to the majestic white pines and red pines, many of them more than 100 feet tall.

Most of the old-growth pine forest that does remain is in Itasca State Park and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Only three species of pines are native to Minnesota — jack, red and white. The evergreens have long needlelike leaves in bundles of two to five.

There are other native evergreens in our state, such as spruces, with short four-sided needles, and the arborvitae that has scale-like leaves. But it's the tall pines, delivering scented air and the wonderful sound of the wind through their branches, which have become symbols of the North Woods.

Pines can survive the cold winter months because their needle-shaped leaves minimize surface area and their waxy coatings cut down on evaporation and help shed snow. Pines existed before the age of the dinosaurs, and they were among the first seed-bearing trees to have evolved.

The red pine was designated the Minnesota state tree in 1953. Our state's current red pine Big Tree champion, in the Big Fork State Forest, is 120 feet tall. A red pine in Itasca State Park that was more than 300 years old and 126 feet was hit by a storm in July 2007. It lost part of its top. Itasca is home to the tallest white pine in the state at 110.7 feet. The largest jack pine in Minnesota (and the nation) is 73 feet, in Voyageurs National Park.

Jim Gilbert's observations have been part of the Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendars since 1977, and he is the author of five books on nature in Minnesota. He taught and worked as a naturalist for 50 years.