The Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) is planning to do major restoration work at the Sand Dunes State Forest, and that includes removal of a significant number of pine trees that have stood for 70 or more years.

 

Last fall, property owners adjacent to the forest were sent notification of the plan. The goal of the plan is to “identify, protect, restore and enhance rare or unique geological, plant and animal features of the Anoka Sand Plain.”

 

Property owners in the area are concerned the cutting of trees will significantly change the forest - and not for the better. And they’re hoping the county might be able to do something about it.

 

The DNR plan says it will shift away from pine plantations to restoration and management of native plant communities in some designated areas.

 

The plan includes a map with two different types of management designations. In the Immediate Rare Features Restoration Zone, all of the pine and spruce will be harvested. Over the next five to 10 years, work will begin to convert the zone to resemble native plant communities that existed prior to European settlement.

 

The Eventual Rare Features Restoration Zone, will be phased in over time, a process that will take 70 years or more to complete.

 

What concerns area property owners is the Immediate Restoration Zone. They take the DNR’s plan to mean clear cutting, something they feel will be devastating to the forest.

 

“It’s totally uncalled for. It’s not good management of the forest land to clear cut,” says Don Bouley, whose property is adjacent to the forest. “To manage it, you cut every other row and let the other trees mature.”

 

Sherburne County has 1,116 acres of School Trust Land managed by the DNR for maximum long-term economic return under sound natural resource and conservation practices.

 

Some of the Sand Dunes State Forest has that designation.

 

Bouley says it’s not only restoration that’s motivating the DNR to change its policy, which previously allowed pine trees to grow up to 120 years before harvesting.

 

“The legislature is pushing the DNR to sell the timber rights to generate more revenue for the schools,” he says.

 

Bouley’s neighbor Joe Magda agrees it’s better to do selective harvesting, not clear cutting.

 

“Take a specific species of tree, like aspen or poplar for paper, but leave the birch and the maple and the pine,” he says. “But that’s a problem here because it’s almost all pine forest. You almost have to take every other row or every third row.”

 

Ron and Judy Geurts have lived adjacent to the forest for more than 41 years.

 

“In the winter of 2013- 14 when I was out walking in the woods, they were out there marking individual trees to be cut to try to give the other trees more room,” says Ron. “That made perfect sense to me.”

 

“When you cut trees for paper and everything else is still growing, the little saplings come up in the first year,” says Magda. “But the pine forest doesn’t regenerate like that. It needs to be planted.”

 

Magda says he has 70 acres near McGregor that was harvested in 1996 for aspen and poplar.

 

 “Within the next year the saplings were six feet tall, and 10 feet tall the year after that,” he says. “This last fall they harvested the 80 acres to the south. They clear cut it. Now you can see for almost a half mile where you couldn’t see 100 feet before.”

 

Donna Bouley says they take proper care of their own land, which backs up to the pine forest.

 

“To keep up our prairie we had a burn, we had wildflowers planted and we only mow once a year,” she says. “Now they’re going to clear cut right behind our prairie. That doesn’t make sense.”

 

“This is a haven for wildlife,” says Judy Geurts. “We watch the deer. The minute they get startled they go into the forest. A neighbor just had a bear in her yard.”

 

“There’s wild turkeys fox, coyotes - we see it all out here,” Don Says. 

 

But they’re thinking that might not be the case if areas are clear cut. Don says the animals will disappear.

 

“Why wouldn’t they? There’s nothing to keep the deer here - no cover,” he says.

 

Ron says he read articles that the original intent of planting the trees was to let them mature to 120 years. “They said the first 60 years it would grow and during the next 60 years the older trees start dying. That creates soil conditions for the underbrush and other things to grow. Insects and bird move in,” he says. “Now if they come in and clear cut, they’ve just defeated the second half of the process.”

 

He says if the goal of the School Trust is to generate long-term revenue, clear cutting isn’t the answer.

 

“They keep talking about wanting to generate a stream of money for the schools, but if they clear cut this now, to me there’s no stream for the next 60 years. If they turn this back to prairie, it’s not going to produce any income.”

 

“I understand that we have to help the schools, but do it in a way that also has to do with conservation,” says Judy.

 

She says people move to Sherburne County because of the beautiful landscape.

 

“This county is known for the pine trees. That’s one of the reasons we moved here,” she says. “I think the county should be involved in this.”

 

Last week, Don Bouley brought the issue before the county board.

 

“I don’t know if there’s anything you can do as commissioners, but I certainly hope so,” he told them.

 

Since the issue was not on the regular agenda, the board couldn’t take any action at the time. But Administrator Steve Taylor said the county is limited to what it can do on state and federal land.

 

“The county is looking into the issue of the thinning of pine stands at the Sand Dunes State Forest, he said. “But at the same time, the land in question is not owned and managed by Sherburne County.”