Chippewa National Forest is a National Forest located in north central Minnesota, United States, in the counties of Itasca,

Cass Cass may refer to: People and fictional characters * Cass (surname), a list of people * Cass (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Big Cass, ring name of wrestler William Morrissey * Cass, in British band Skunk Anansie * Ca ...

and Beltrami. Forest headquarters are located in

Cass Lake, Minnesota Cass Lake is a city in Cass County, Minnesota, United States, located within the boundaries of the Leech Lake Indian Reservation. It is surrounded by Pike Bay Township. Cass Lake had a population of 675 in the 2020 census. It is notable as ...

. There are local

ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

district offices in Blackduck, Deer River and

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People * Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) * Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California ...

History

The Forest was established as the Minnesota Forest Reserve on 27 June 1902, with passage of the Morris Act. While this act mainly addressed the disposition of unallotted lands on Ojibwe Indian reservations in Minnesota, of the Chippewas of the Mississippi, Cass Lake, Leech Lake, and Winnibigoshish Indian reservations were designated as a

Forest Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

. Led by

Maria Sanford Maria Louise Sanford (December 19, 1836 – April 21, 1920) was an American educator. She was a professor of history at Swarthmore College from 1871 to 1880 and a professor of rhetoric and elocution at the University of Minnesota from 1880 to 19 ...

and Florence Bramhall of the Federation of Minnesota Women's Clubs, conservation activism beginning in 1900 brought the forest and potential threats to wide public attention. The Reserve was re-established as the Minnesota National Forest on 23 May 1908. In 1928, the forest was renamed in honor of the Chippewa tribe of Native Americans from whose land the forest was created. Subsequent boundary expansions and land purchases increased the area of the forest to its present size.

The Lost Forty

The Forest contains an area known as the Lost Forty. This area, which has a total of , was accidentally mapped as part of Coddington Lake when the original maps of the region were laid out in 1882. As a result of the mapping error, the Lost Forty was never logged. It contains some of the oldest forest in the state, with some trees more than 350 years old. Less than two percent of Minnesota's total forested land today is such

old growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

forest.

Historic and cultural sites

There are over 3000 archeological and historic sites located within the forest, two that are most notable and open to the public are: * Camp Rabideau a

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a ...

(CCC) camp is one of the best-preserved of the nation's many CCC camps. *The Chippewa National Forest Historic Supervisor's Office, constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and

Works Project Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, in ...

Geography

The forest covers . Water is abundant, with over 1,300 lakes, 923 miles (1,485 km) of rivers and streams and of

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (Anoxic waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...

s. The Forest has more lakes and wetlands than any other National Forest in the nation, boasting approximately 13% of all surface water within the entire National Forest system. Inside the forest the Cut Foot Sioux Trail runs along the Laurentian Divide. Three of the top ten largest lakes in size within the State of Minnesota are located within the forest, these are Cass Lake,

Leech Lake Leech Lake is a lake located in north central Minnesota, United States. It is southeast of Bemidji, located mainly within the Leech Lake Indian Reservation, and completely within the Chippewa National Forest. It is used as a reservoir. The lake ...

and

Lake Winnibigoshish Lake Winnibigoshish is a body of water in north central Minnesota in the Chippewa National Forest. Its name comes from the Ojibwe language ''Wiinibiigoonzhish'', a diminutive and pejorative form of ''Wiinibiig'', meaning "filthy water" (i.e., "b ...

. Approximately 44% of the Forest's land is within the Leech Lake Indian Reservation.

Fauna and flora

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (C ...

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' cont ...

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

balsam fir ''Abies balsamea'' or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada (Newfoundland west to central Alberta) and the northeastern United States (Minnesota east to Maine, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to ...

, and

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since h ...

blanket the forest.

Old growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

such as the Lost Forty section of the CNF is valuable for wildlife, including

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

, several species of

hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfa ...

and

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions ...

red squirrel The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent. In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbe ...

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...

, and numerous other species. In the 1960s, the bald eagle population in the forest was only 12 nesting pairs. Since then the population has rebounded and the bald eagle population of the Chippewa National Forest is one of the highest density in the lower 48 states at 150 nesting pairs.

Recreation

The Forest contains 21 developed campgrounds, 41 miles of paved bike trails, 43 miles of unpaved bike trails, 160 miles of hiking trails, 298 miles of non-motorized trails, 380 miles of snowmobile trails, 68 dispersed camping locations, 20 miles of horse trails, 83 boat accesses.

Visitor Centers

The Forest operates three visitor centers in the forest, they are: *Cut Foot Sioux Visitor Center – near Deer River, open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. *Edge of the Wilderness Discovery Center – near Marcell, open year-round. *Norway Beach Visitor Center – near Cass Lake, open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.

Scenic Byways

Many roadways, including U.S. and State Highways and county roads intersect the forest for easy access to the forest. Within the Forest are five scenic byways for scenic drives for visitors that intersect through the forest. *

Great River Road The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Miss ...

, follows the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

within the Forest * Edge of the Wilderness National Scenic Byway * Avenue of the Pines National Forest Scenic Byway
Lake Country Scenic BywayLady Slipper Scenic Byway
named for the Minnesota State Flower Pink-and-white Lady's-slipper, which can be found in the Forest.

References

External links

*
History of the Forest
"The Real Story of Chippewa National Forest" by Tim Brady in November–December 2004 issue of Minnesota Conservation Volunteer
Online Map of the forest

Print maps of the forest

Brochure on "Lost 40" – USFS
{{Authority control 1908 establishments in Minnesota National Forests of Minnesota Protected areas established in 1908 Protected areas of Beltrami County, Minnesota Protected areas of Cass County, Minnesota Protected areas of Itasca County, Minnesota