Research and Forest Management History

The Cloquet Forestry Center was established primarily through the efforts of Professor Samuel Green, head of the University of Minnesota Forestry School, Fred Vibert, state senator and publisher of the Cloquet newspaper, and Rudolph and Frederick E. Weyerhaeuser, both of whom had interests in several Cloquet area sawmills, railroads, and logging operations. The primary intent for establishing a research forest was to determine how to best reforest cut-over lands (Carroll 1987).

Reflecting that interest most research and management efforts at the Center were directed toward reforestation through the 1920s. The Center established a seedling nursery in 1915 for both research and seedling production. Two years later the nursery was producing one million seedlings annually for reforestation at the Center and around the state (Kenety 1917).

In the early 1930s, research and management emphasis shifted toward intermediate stand treatments. Center publications during the 1930s and 1940s (Schantz-Hansen 1931, Hansen 1936, Allison 1946) show that much of the management and research work dealt with intermediate stand thinning, primarily with white and red pine, and white spruce. As the pulp and paper industry began to expand in Minnesota, so did the interest in managing other suitable tree species. During this period jack pine, aspen and birch began to receive increased research and management attention.

As the forests of Minnesota and the Cloquet Forestry Center began to approach maturity, opportunities for research tied to final harvest increased. The period from the 1950s to the 1970s saw the emergence of mechanized timber harvesting and new reforestation methods. Chainsaws, rubber tired skidders, feller bunchers, whole tree processors, and containerized seedlings became commonplace. These new tools and processes raised questions of economic and environmental impact, and fostered research designed to answer them.

This era also marked a change in personnel functions at the Center. During the late 1960s and early 1970s a shift occurred away from staff that provided primarily woods labor to staff that provided research support. This shift affected management of the forest in several ways. The labor intensive nursery operation that began in 1915 was terminated in 1974. Basic silvicultural activities such as salvage cutting and timber stand improvement work declined sharply as efforts were directed toward research support.

It was during this period of transition that a backlog of mature and over mature timber stands accumulated at the Center. By 1977 mature and over mature stands occupied 80 percent of the upland forest (Zasada 1981). To address the situation the Center adopted an aggressive ten year management plan (Zasada 1981) that proposed a significant amount of timber harvesting to develop better age class distribution and species diversity.

The plan addressed and to a large extent resolved two primary concerns, namely the over-maturing of the forest and the need to stimulate additional field research at Cloquet. Four hundred twenty six acres received a harvesting treatment between 1981 and 1986 (Severs 1989). Three hundred ten of those acres were clear-cut. By 1991 a total of 700 acres (21 percent of the contiguous forest) had been treated, with 513 acres (15 percent) being clear-cut. Most of the timber harvesting in the 1980s was accomplished by contract logging (Severs 1989).

In 1981 the Minnesota Tree Improvement Cooperative was established and located at the Cloquet Forestry Center. This was followed in 1984 by development of the Forest Vegetation Management Cooperative, also headquartered at the Center. The cooperatives spurred a significant increase in field research at the Center, initiating about a half-dozen new research projects annually.

The management plan for the 1990s (Severs et al 1992) continued to address the issue of an over- mature forest and the need to provide opportunities for research. In addition it addressed the continued evolution of management needs for the Center's forest, particularly those portions regrowing after earlier harvests. The plan included reserves and natural areas for research, teaching, and outreach. The 1990s plan also included a formal recreational policy to address increased use of the forest by hikers, cross-country skiers, horseback riders and others.

The 1990s plan provided a formal guide for the management of the Center's forest, emphasizing the maintenance of a healthy productive forest to demonstrate the benefits of timber production and it's compatibility with other uses and values. Four hundred eighty-five acres (15 percent of the contiguous forest) received harvesting treatment. Of that, 319 acres (approximately 10 percent of the forest) were clear-cut and reforested and 166 acres received thinning treatments. Similar to the prior ten-year period, active forest management through the 1990s continued to provide opportunities for research. Sixty-six new research projects were established at the Cloquet Forestry Center during the period 1992 through 2001 (see Appendix A). The most common research areas were pathology, silviculture, ecology, and forest genetics.

The 1990s also saw a strengthening of the Center's mission with additional staff and programs housed at the Center. Although the Vegetation Management Cooperative ceased operating in 1996, the Center added three new staff positions in outreach and continuing education a few years later. These positions caused increased use of the Center for forest management education and demonstration.

The last Fall Quarter forestry student session was held at the Center in 1999. Following the University's switch to a semester calendar, the Cloquet forestry field session was moved to a five-week period just after Spring semester. Beginning in August of 2002, the three and one-half week field session traditionally held at Itasca State Park moved to the Cloquet Forestry Center. As the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences educational programs evolve, the Forestry Center and its forest will continue to play a valuable role in undergraduate natural resources educational programs.

The quality and sustainability of management practices has been recognized in several ways. The American Forest Council designated the Cloquet Forestry Center as a Certified Tree Farm in 1989. The Certification recognizes active and appropriate forest management and the Center's rich tradition of teaching, research, and outreach conducted since its inception in 1909. In 2000 the University enrolled the Center's lands in the American Forest & Paper Association's Sustainable Forestry Initiative program.