Forest

The St. Louis County Land & Minerals' forestry division oversaw the planting of red and white pine seedlings over about 48 acres of tax-forfeited land that had burned.

While all 10,000 seedlings have been reserved, organizers expect some to still be available for first-come, first-served pickup May 17, 2026.

Residents can receive up to 70 free tree seedlings to reforest their properties starting May 2026, following a windstorm in June 2025 that felled an estimated 9 million trees in the area.

The U.S. Forest Service will close its decades-old Grand Rapids research office as part of a national reorganization. The lab produces world-renowned work on woods and water.

Radovich will serve the Council as the forest products industry representative. The 17-member body aims to coordinate diverse forest interests in managing the state's timber stands.

The merged company now owns more than 4 million acres in forest holdings across the U.S. PotlatchDeltic denies any allegations of wrongdoing at Bemidji mill in new court filings.

Researchers tested 10 fungi from MN to assess for their ability to kill the pests when used in traps. The method may be useful in hard-to-access forests in Northern Minnesota.

Fresh wounds on Minnesota's oak trees in warmer seasons increase the risk of spreading oak wilt, an invasive fungal disease deadly to all the state's oak species.

Two lawsuits filed Nov. 14, 2025, against PotlatchDeltic and a Bemidji supervisor come after the Forest Stewardship Council terminated the certification for all the company's mills.

Plus: MnDOT will host an open house on its Highway 34 corridor study in Park Rapids; and a state task force is hosting three public input sessions to gather information on how Minnesotans forage on state lands.