In this issue:
The thrill of trills, warblers and regenerating pine 🎶
A forest with mature and regenerating pines with a screenshot of the Merlin bird call app which has detected a variety of songbirds, including the veery, Nashville warbler, olive-sided flycatcher, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, white-throated sparrow, and alder flycatcher.
Bowstring State Forest
On a fine spring morning in Bowstring State Forest, some of Minnesota’s most charming residents and far-flung visitors were making their presence known.
A quick scan with the Merlin bird call app suggested more than a dozen species of songbirds – warblers, sparrows, flycatchers, and more – trilling and singing on a site with diverse tree species including many young red and white pine. The pines are growing robustly after prescribed burns set back competing vegetation like hazel and prepare the soil for seeding, and seed tree harvests, which is a method that removes most mature trees on a site but leaves some scattered, healthy trees. These ‘leave’ trees drop seeds that naturally regenerate the area, and the newly opened canopy allows sunlight to reach the seedlings. Both red and white pine seedlings need abundant sunlight to help them grow.
A little over a decade after the harvest and prescribed burns, foresters can see the success of using these treatments to regenerate pine without the cost and effort of planting by hand or herbicide use. The result is a mixture of healthy young and mature forest, which provides breeding grounds, food and other habitat needs for many species – including warblers and other songbirds!
Big rain events call for big culverts 🌧️
Finland State Forest
Road construction season is here for state forest roads too! Teams are hard at work improving public access to state forest lands.
Last issue, we shared upcoming road construction projects, funded through Get Out MORE.
The funding has allowed for key improvements to culverts, bridges, and roads that are often many decades old and impacted by heavy use as well as the challenges of Minnesota’s dramatic weather.
Progress continues on several projects, including Stoney River Grade State Forest Road in Finland State Forest.
Crews work in June to install an arch culvert on one of three water crossings that will be improved.
Now that’s a culvert! Why so big? Minnesota is seeing more frequent and intense heavy rainstorms as our climate becomes warmer and wetter. These large culverts are the best option for withstanding high water flow while allowing for fish and other creatures to safely pass through during low water. Check the crossings out yourself when construction is finished later this summer. At nearly 312,000 acres, Finland State Forest has lots to explore.
Battling buckthorn with native plants 🌱
Sascha Lodge, DNR’s Terrestrial Invasive Species program coordinator, counts buckthorn in a quadrat plot with the help of DNR intern Vinny Lin.
Chengwatana State Forest
Forest management encompasses much more than just trees. Sometimes, it means working to reduce the impact of invasive species like buckthorn.
Once you know what to look for, the presence of non-native buckthorn is hard to ignore. This dense shrub outcompetes other plants, crowding out native species in forests, roads, parks, and yards – and it’s notoriously difficult to get rid of, resprouting vigorously when cut.
But what if you could beat it at its own outcompeting game? The DNR is trying to do just that!
Leaning on research from the University of Minnesota, the DNR began a study in Chengwatana State Forest to track if native rye grass can prevent buckthorn seedlings from getting the nutrients they need to grow. The research suggests once buckthorn is removed by cutting, mulching, and spot spraying with herbicide, species like rye grass can be planted to shade out buckthorn and prevent its seeds from growing into a new buckthorn forest.
DNR staff - including a forest ecologist and invasive species expert – set up the study using the quadrat method. They established 24 plots, half within the rye seeding area and half outside of it. Then, DNR foresters recorded data on everything within the plot, including the number of buckthorn seedlings, amount of grasses and other plants, and density of trees in the area.
Over the next several years, staff will continue to collect data on how successful the native ground layer vegetation is at keeping invasive plants from finding a foothold. Hopefully, planting native species like rye grass can be a relatively inexpensive and effective way to manage buckthorn in our wooded landscapes, leaving sunlight and space for native species including tree seedlings to grow.
State forest scene: Black bears on the move 📷
Black bear in Kabetogama State Forest.
Kabetogama State Forest
Black bears are out and about! This one quickly crossed the road in Kabetogama State Forest and ventured back into the woods, providing a brief glimpse before disappearing into lush vegetation.
This time of year, black bears are on the move searching for food and mates. You can help prevent conflicts between bears and people by managing attractants. Learn more about being BearWise.
Have photos?
In each issue, we share an image captured in one of our state forests. Have photos? We'd love to see how you enjoy public lands! Share your state forest photos.