The Denbigh Experimental Forest is an

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

and

experimental forest An experimental forest, or experimental range, as defined by the United States Forest Service, is "an area administered ... 'to provide for the research necessary for the management of the land.'" Size and relation to other areas According to the ...

operated by the Forest Service of the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...

. It is located 15 miles (24 km) west of

Towner, North Dakota Towner is a city in and the county seat of McHenry County, North Dakota, McHenry County, North Dakota. The population was 479 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Minot, North Dakota, Minot Minot micropolit ...

. The forest contains about 30 species of woody plants, labeled and planted in a park-like setting, including

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-gr ...

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...

Siberian larch ''Larix sibirica'', the Siberian larch or Russian larch, is a frost-hardy tree native to western Russia, from close to the Finnish border east to the Yenisei valley in central Siberia, where it hybridises with the Dahurian larch ''L. gmelinii ...

Black Hills spruce ''Picea glauca'', the white spruce, is a species of spruce native to the northern temperate and boreal forests in Canada and United States, North America. ''Picea glauca'' is native from central Alaska all through the east, across western and s ...

Elaeagnus ''Elaeagnus'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Elaeagnaceae. Some species of the genus are commonly known as silverberry or oleaster, Description ''Elaeagnus'' plants are deciduous or evergreen shrubs or smal ...

, and

Rocky Mountain juniper ''Juniperus scopulorum'', the Rocky Mountain juniper, is a species of juniper native to western North America, from southwest Canada to the Great Plains of the United States and small areas of northern Mexico. They are the most widespread of all ...

. Wildlife includes

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland game bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey (''M. g. dom ...

porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp Spine (zoology), spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two Family (biology), families of animals: the Old World porcupines of the family Hystricidae, and the New ...

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

, and sometimes

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

. The forest is also popular with birdwatchers. The forest was established in 1931 on a site extensively over-plowed and overgrazed during the early part of the 20th century, leaving wind-blown sand dunes and economic hardship. It was originally envisioned as part of a grand plan by President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

to plant a 100-mile (160 km) wide "shelterbelt zone" from

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

to north

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

to reduce wind erosion and eliminate dust storms, as well as provide local employment in the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

via a jobs program. Proponents envisioned a forest as large as 480,000 acres (1900 km²) around the forest's current site. This grand vision never came to pass, and the forest was established with the more modest goals of determining which types of shelterbelt trees would grow well in the northern

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

, which seed sources within species are best adapted for the region, and which methods of tree establishment are most effective for shelterbelts. The Forest Service acquired of the 636 in 1931, and the State of North Dakota retained control of the other 596 acres (2.4 km²). In 1971, the Forest Service acquired the entire tract. The entire section has been managed as one unit for experimental purposes since 1931, however. More than 40 species were planted from throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, of which about 30 species have survived. The forest has also been used cooperatively by the

Custer National Forest Custer National Forest is located primarily in the south central part of the U.S. state of Montana but also has separate sections in northwestern South Dakota. With a total area of , the forest comprises over 10 separate sections. While in the we ...

, North Dakota Forest Service, Agricultural Research service, and

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was ...

, Fargo. It is no longer being used for research, although it currently provides approximately 500,000 seedlings per year for wind protection of crops and communities throughout the

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The forest is now in the process of being de-commissioned and returned to the administrative control of the

See also