Where There is Smoke
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Forests of the Agassiz Lowlands

Where There is Smoke, also, Forests of the Agassiz Lowlands. . You are standing at the site of an old forestry station, established decades ago to fight one of the biggest foes of forests, fire!, While pickaxes and pulaskis were common fire-fighting tools, a forester's biggest weapon may have been a tower. These steel contraptions rose above the treeline and allowed workers to scan the horizon for wisps of smoke., Guardians Rise above the Treetops , The fire tower here was built in the late 1930s by the Soil Conservation Service. Many Minnesota towers were constructed during the Great Depression., The places where fire spotters sat, called cabs, were mounted on steel girders that rose 100 feet or more above the ground. The tapering design of the tower helped them stand up to strong winds., Though once critical for spotting smoke, towers gradually became obsolete as new technologies, such as aerial detection, took over., Burning Bog , The Fires of 1931 , During the 1920s drought conditions caused sphagnum moss to dry. The bog became tinder., In 1931 settlers set their normal spring fires, hoping to clear land and get rid of bothersome mosquitoes. Their fires smoldered underground all summer in the dry peat., On September 11, 1931, humidity dropped and winds picked up to 60 miles per hour. A huge fire flared up and turned parts of the bog black. In the end, more than 100,000 acres went up in smoke., Fires are a force to be feared. Spreading rapidly in winds, fires quickly consume dry fuels. They can smolder for years in peat as hardy, glowing coals., One lucky homestead family survived the 1931 fire by wrapping their heads in wet towels and their bodies in saturated blankets. They took refuge in the furrows of the garden, laying flat as the fire raged around them., Fires clear land of trees, allowing new plants that tolerate sunlight to colonize the site. Unchecked fires, however, can burn hot enough to destroy mineral soil that new plants need. Raging fires also cause extensive harm to humans., [Reverse:] Forests of the Agassiz Lowlands , The Big Bog is more than just a bunch of spongy moss. Forests are part of the landscape mix., Pines and hardwoods form a colorful blanket of foliage to the south and east. Fragmented islands of black spruce and tamarack are found north of Red Lake., Forests have been here for centuries. How do we know this? Cores extracted from peat tell the tale. Pollen grains in the layers reveal which trees once stood on this spot., This map, drawn from surveys taken in the late 1800s, shows historic, undisturbed forest types. Land east of Red Lake was covered in mostly aspen and birch. South of the lake, pines mixed in with hardwoods., Black spruce is one of the few trees that can tolerate the acidic conditions of the lowland bog., Harvesting the Giant Pines , What do you think early inhabitants thought of the vast forests here? They were probably impressed at the size and scale of the woodlands, which were reportedly so thick that you couldn't see the sky., Wonder soon turned to work as logging grew into a regular winter occupation. Men who toiled in camps were paid the sum of $1.00 per day in the early 1900s, or about $110.00 using today's rate for unskilled labor., Most forests here today naturally seeded or sprouted. Some were planted. During the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had camps in the area, including one just south of this site. The CCC planted many of the pines found here today., Trees on Pine Island, so named because it was an island of pines in a sea of peat, were harvested in the winter. Logs were placed on the frozen Tamarac, ready to ride the river down to Red Lake during spring thaw. A boom caught the logs before they dispersed. Boats towed the woods to nearby Redby., This photo shows lumberjacks at a camp near Kelliher in the 1910s. Many workers were farmers who harvested trees in the winter and crops in the fall., Northern white cedar has dense, soft needles, perfect shelter for white-tailed deer. Ludlow Island was once covered in cedar, but it died out due to fire and other causes. Today the Minnesota DNR is restoring native cedar on Ludlow.