Features

  • Unmanned Aerial Systems tool on the Chippewa National Forest

    The use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as a technology and tool for land management agencies has been developing for many years.  For the Forest Service a key set of events leading into this time included three helicopter crashes from 2003-2019 while performing aerial ignition operations resulting in fatal injuries to six personnel.  Following the third crash in Texas, the Chief of the Forest Service issued a letter to the agency titled, “Reducing Employee Exposure to Aerial Prescribed Fire Operation” in the Spring of 2020.  This letter indicated the need for the agency to move to UAS for aerial flight in high-risk situations like aerial ignition.  It also indicated that the agency had been able to obtain all the necessary approvals to aggressively implement a formal UAS Program agency wide. 

  • Inter-Regional Surveying Team on the Chippewa  

    Last October, 13 surveyors and surveying technicians traveled from five states and the District of Columbia to spend a week on the Chippewa National Forest in support of the Inter-Regional Survey Initiative. The Initiative aims to accomplish an impactful project in a short amount of time while providing opportunities for shared mentorship and learning across the agency.

  • A Successful Bat Week on the Chippewa!

    Bat Week is a worldwide celebration of bats that occurs every year during the last week of October, the 24th through 31st. Bat Week was started around ten years ago by Bat Conservation International and is now celebrated all over the world by hundreds of partners including the Forest Service. Bat Week aims to raise awareness about bats and all the benefits they have to ecosystems worldwide. With the rise of white-nose syndrome, bat populations have been dropping dramatically and pushing some species towards extinction, so it is now more important than ever to increase efforts towards education, research and conservation.

  • Northern Lights Community School Visits the Chippewa

    On October 30, 2024, the day before Halloween, the Northern Lights Community School (NLCS) of Warba came to visit the Lost 40 and the Dora Lake picnic area for a field trip. A total of 90 students and 18 staff members came on two buses. Chippewa staff then gave four total presentations to each group of students, ranging from grades 6-12.

  • Joyce Estate - Preservation for the Future

    We invite you to stroll through the grounds of the Joyce Estate and imagine the roaring twenties, and the time of prohibition. Imagine how unusual it was in its day, an isolated private or personal 4,500-acre resort. David Joyce of Chicago, heir to the Joyce Family fortune originating in part from lumber taken from northern Minnesota via the Itasca Lumber Company, built the estate from 1917-1935. Due to excellent railway connections from Minneapolis and Chicago, and its scenic beauty, the Grand Rapids area became nationally known as a major resort area.

  • History Meets History to Make History

    The annual Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA-HA) Convoy took place October 1st - 31st, 2024. The convoy retraced the historic 1918 Jefferson Highway route from Minnesota to New Orleans, Louisiana, in 30 days, driving over 2,500 miles. This is the eighth MVPA-HA Convoy promoted by the MVPA-HA, and the first to travel on a north-south axis through the center of the country.

  • Life as a Resource Advisor and Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Specialist

    Being a Resource Advisor (READ) or a Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialist for the Forest Service is intense and rewarding.

  • Rice Lake Outlet Snowmobile Bridge Project

    The Rice Lake Outlet Snowmobile Bridge was replaced during the summer of 2024. The bridge is located on the Marcell North Snowmobile Trail about 4 miles north of Marcell, Minnesota.

  • Update: Emerald Ash Borer on the Chippewa National Forest

    In the fall of 2023, the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB) was discovered on the Chippewa National Forest (NF) near the western Big Rice Lake Boat Access. The discovery of EAB on the Chippewa NF causes significant concern due to the prevalence of ash in the forest, whether in ash dominated swamps or as a component in mixed hardwood stands.

  • Bitterroot: My Fire Detail

    This year the Chippewa National Forest send out a nine-person module to the bitterroot wilderness in Idaho. The module is a newer concept developed by the superior and Chippewa national forests that basically acts as a compressed hand crew and has demonstrated its efficiency and benefits.

  • Ruffed Grouse Society Stewardship Agreement in Action!

    Saturday August 3, 2024, six members of the Bemidji Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society and one RGS staff member completed hunter walking trail, wildlife opening and impoundment vegetation maintenance in support of the Chippewa National Forest Stewardship Agreement with the Ruffed Grouse Society at the Fiske non-motorized area near Blackduck on the Blackduck Ranger District. 

  • Smokey Bear’s 80th Birthday on the Chippewa

    On August 9th, 1944, the Forest Service created the character of Smokey Bear. His name was inspired by New York City Firefighter “Smokey” Joe Martin who was injured on duty during a bold rescue in 1922. Smokey’s first message was “Care will prevent 9 out of 10 forest fires."

  • Heritage, Partnerships, and Preservation

    It is another summer and our historic preservation partners are back. We are partnering again with HistoriCorps, a preservation non-profit that provides volunteers of all skill levels with hands-on experience preserving historic structures on public lands. Also back this year, is Northern Bedrock, a Minnesota AmeriCorps preservation organization that helps with maintenance of historic sites and creates pathways for young adults to join the preservation trades. The two partners have been assisting us with deferred maintenance and general maintenance of some of our historic buildings, largely due to funds from the Great American Outdoors Act and other funding.

  • Chippewa National Forest employees part of Minnesota Loon Restoration Project

    The state of Minnesota is partnering with federal agencies to implement the Minnesota Loon Restoration Project.  This project is one of many selected by the Deepwater Horizon Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group (Open Ocean TIG) to restore natural resources, including migratory birds, injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. After a 2016 settlement with BP Exploration and Production Inc. (BP), Open Ocean TIG approved the MN loon project. This 7.52-million-dollar project is being implemented by the Department of the Interior, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and U.S. Geological Survey. The goal of the MN Loon Restoration Project is to reduce mortality and increase the number of young loons produced in Minnesota.

  • Wood Ducks in Northern Minnesota: What’s the Story?

    Many people know that the creation and deployment of artificial nest boxes helped the wood duck population recover from a major population crash in the late 19th and early 20th century. Although building and placing these structures in or near wetlands is a common and beneficial practice among private citizens and natural resource agencies, most wood ducks in the Mississippi Flyway are thought to nest in natural tree cavities (Bellrose and Holm 1994). This begs the question: do we have any idea where these birds nest in the contemporary forested landscape of northern Minnesota? A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) research team based in Bemidji is trying to answer that question and several others as part of an ongoing multi-year investigation that started in 2016.

  • Update: Emerald ash borer on the Chippewa

    Emerald ash borer (EAB) was initially discovered and confirmed on the Chippewa National Forest (CPF) in October of 2023. EAB is an invasive beetle to the United States and was initially discovered in the United States in Michigan in 2002. EAB is native to Asia and is believed to be introduced to the United States through wooden packing materials.

  • LiDAR Workshop on the Chippewa National Forest

    On June 4, Kirsten Tighe, Geospatial Services Program Manager and Greg Liknes, Acting Remote Sensing Specialist from the Regional Office stopped by the Chippewa National Forest to talk to the Forest and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO) about the 2022 Upper Mississippi Headwaters LiDAR collect. 15-20 people from the Forest and LLBO attended. 

  • Planting for Pollinators

    Pollinator Week (June 17 -21) is an annual celebration that was initiated 14 years ago by the Pollinator Partnership to raise awareness for pollinators and spread the word about what we can do to protect them.

    The theme for the 2024 Pollinator Week was “Vision 2040: Thriving ecosystems, economies, and agriculture.” This theme celebrates the vital role that pollinators play in our ecosystems, economies, and agriculture. It also urges us to envision a future where pollinators not only survive but thrive.

  • Chippewa Conducts Tree Climbing Training

    The Chippewa National Forest held a tree climbing training June 10-14. The training was organized and conducted by John Stewart, Chippewa National Forest recreation technician and certified tree climber, under the guidance of regional tree climbing coordinator Paul Valento.

  • Chippewa and BSU Agreement for Camp Rabideau

    The Chippewa National Forest boasts the distinction of being home to the best preserved CCC camp in existence – Camp Rabideau. Camp Rabideau is within the Blackduck District, just off the Lady Slipper Scenic Byway. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 as a response to crippling unemployment during the Great Depression by putting hundreds of thousands of young men to work in environmental conservation.

  • Chippewa National Forest’s Recycling Challenge

    During the month of April, offices across the Chippewa National Forest took part in a recycling challenge to celebrate Earth Day. The efforts were led by the forest’s Climate Change Team, which set an initial goal of 1,200 pounds of recycled material total for the month of April. The rules of the challenge accepted all types of recyclable materials, including electronics and batteries (so long as they were recycled properly). The challenge also encouraged folks to pick up trash out in the field by counting non-recyclable trash that was smaller than a toaster oven towards the forest’s grand total. –See our photo taken by Anna Plumb collected trash with Reid Plumb out in the field.

  • Planting season is a wrap!

    The 2024 tree planting season on the Chippewa National was completed forest wide on Tuesday, May 21. The Deer River District concluded the planting season on their district by hosting the 9th grade class from Deer River High School. The high school students joined the silviculture team in planting the last 700 seedlings on the district. The students were also given the opportunity to learn about careers with the USDA Forest Service. 

  • Fire History Across the Forest

    Many are aware of the fire history project that Sean Dunham, Forest Archaeologist, the Chippewa heritage program, Leech Lake Band of the Ojibwe, Leech Lake Tribal College, and the University of Minnesota (UMN) have been working on in recent years. The group initially focused on red pine in specific areas of the Forest, to help answer questions they were interested in. 

  • UMC Crookston Crew on Forest for 42nd Year

    On a dreary Arbor Day, April 25, 15 students and four faculty from the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) spent their day on the Chippewa National Forest continuing a 42-year tradition.

  • A Journey to the Middle of the Pacific to Count Albatross

    Midway or Midway Atoll is a place that many people recognize from its importance in World War II, specifically the Battle of Midway. Others recognize it as the place where Wisdom, the oldest albatross on record, lives. Around 50+ people call it home or their home away from home. But for me it was a dream. A dream I had no idea I wanted until 2012, when a friend/co-worker of mine volunteered to be a bird counter on Midway. She spent a few weeks on the Atoll counting albatross. It was an amazing experience and something she talks fondly about to this day.

  • Chippewa National Forest Native Landscape – After Burn

    In the coming days, if you are on the east end of Walker, look to the south and you may see a blackened lawn at the USDA Forest Service - Walker Ranger District. On Wednesday, April 24th, the weather conditions aligned just enough for the Chippewa National Forest Service’s fire personnel to safely burn the 6-acre compound. The burn started around 10:50 am and was finished by 1 pm. Smoke from the burn rose high and dissipated over Leech Lake with no known issues to the facility or the surrounding community.

  • Earth Day Every Day

    Each April 22, the Leech Lake Environmental Department sponsors a large Earth Day celebration at the Boys and Girls Club in Cass Lake for local schoolchildren and the community as a whole. The entire gymnasium is full of educational environmental displays for all ages to learn and think about our incredible earth. This year, there were over twenty displays, with everything from hydrological systems to radon detection to ways we can all reduce, reuse, and recycle.

  • Successful Walleye Spawn Take at Little Cut Foot Sioux Lake

    The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources  (MN DNR) Grand Rapids Area Fisheries, with partners  Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and Chippewa National Forest, and supported by area fisheries staff from Aitkin, Glenwood, and International Falls recently wrapped up a successful walleye spawn take at Little Cut Foot Sioux Lake.

  • Snowshoe Hare Habitat Work Continues on the Blackduck District

    Snowshoe hare habitat improvement work on the Chippewa National Forest, Blackduck District began with the Third River Snowshoe Hare Habitat Improvement Project developed jointly with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe – Department Resource Management (LLBO – DRM). This project was completed in 2022 as part of the West Zone Conifer Thin 1 Stewardship Timber Sale. Additional snowshoe hare habitat work was also completed in the Lydick Brook area as part of this stewardship sale. The habitat work involved thinning red pine and white spruce and piling the slash into small piles throughout the stands.

  • Fire History Update

    The Chippewa National Forest has been working with the Leech Lake Tribal College, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, and the University of Minnesota on a fire history project across the Forest. 

  • Chippewa NF Resource Advisory Committee

    The Chippewa Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) met on February 28, 2024, and completed the Secure Rurals Schools Act (SRS) project review. A total of thirteen projects were reviewed by the committee for funding. After over three hours of project discussion, the RAC recommended all thirteen projects for various levels of funding, totaling $373,341. Those approved projects were forwarded to and approved by Forest Supervisor Michael Stansberry.

  • Recognizing the Lady Slipper Scenic Byway Board Volunteers

    During National Volunteer Month the Chippewa National Forest would like to recognize the Lady Slipper Scenic Byway board for 16 years of volunteer service.

  • Women's History Month

    For over a hundred years, women have taken on an active role on the Chippewa National Forest. In the late 1800’s the Minnesota Federation of Women’s Clubs initiated the creation of a forest reserve, which eventually became the Chippewa National Forest. Led by Mrs. Lydia Williams and Mrs. William (Florence) Bramhall, the Federation took their cause to the public. Lydia Williams, known as a fiery speaker, led excursions to Leech Lake, to promote publicity for the preservation of pine areas and for just compensation for the Ojibwe population.

  • Women's History Month Ann Long Voelkner, Walker District Ranger

    The USDA Forest Service is always changing and adapting, just like the land we care for and people we serve. As my short story within Women’ History Month, my career has also reflected so many opportunities to gain experience, grow, adapt, and change while collaborating with supportive co-workers.

  • 2024 Forest Health Workshop: The “20th” Year

    In 2004, 30 people gathered in the basement of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO) Tribal office building in Cass Lake to hear presentations regarding forest health issues that were affecting the Chippewa National Forest, the Leech Lake Reservation, and the western Great Lake States area.

  • Wildlife Todd Tisler

    Todd Tisler, Chippewa National Forest wildlife biologist, U.S. Forest Service was part of Star Tribune article. Champions of Minnesota wild places dial in 2024 projects. From boreal wildlife to restoring wetlands and creeks, Minnesota biologists and land managers look ahead to projects that are priorities this year.

  • Women's History Month-Millie Baird, Deputy Forest Supervisor

    Women’s History Month is a time to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of women in history. The Chippewa National Forest has a long history of women leaders, including Regional Foresters, Forest Supervisors, Rangers, and staff officers. 

  • Are you ready for a Smokey Challenge?

    With Smokey Bear turning 80 this year we can expect a lot of great activities, events and ways to help celebrate. Kicking off this year is the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge. This challenge is geared for kids 4-10 but all ages are welcome! The goal is to engage youth to read and learn about wildfire prevention, forests, and natural resource careers, while exploring their local environment.

    Participating is simple:

    • Read Books
    • Have Fun
    • Get Prizes!

  • Cabin Fee Act

    The Cabin Fee Act of 2014 is now ten years old. It established a new method for determining special use fees for the Recreation Residence Program. This year, starting on December 19, 2024, the act authorizes the Forest Service to retain land use fees collected under that statute and spend them, without further appropriation, on administration of the recreation residence program and other recreation programs on National Forest System lands. Nationally, approximately $33,000,000 in rent will be collected in 2025 from the nearly 14,000 recreation residences on 114 national forests. Prior to this date, the fees collected went to the general treasury of the United States. 85% of these funds will now remain on the Forests/Ranger Districts where they are collected, the remainder will be allocated to the Washington Office (5%) and Regions (10%).

  • Cool to be a Toolcat on the Chippewa

    By: Cortney Webber, Deer River Ranger District Recreation Staff

    At the beginning of FY 2024, Deer River District, Chippewa National Forest, acquired a Bobcat Toolcat model UW 56. The Toolcat is unique in its maneuverability to get into and out of tight spaces in campgrounds and campsites. Its compact size and lightweight frame allow us to “Tread Lightly” in our campgrounds, leaving little to no evidence of our tracks.

  • Chief’s Honor Award: Co-stewardship & Intergovernmental Personnel Act Team

    After listening to a suggestion for greater integration and understanding during formal Consultation between the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO) and Chippewa National Forest (CPF), a team of CPF staff, Region 9 Human Resources Specialists, and LLBO tribal members explored how to bring two sovereign nations together through shared work. The team uncovered the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) allowing the appointment of a tribal member through an agreement to a vacant District Ranger position on CPF.  LLBO had Ben Benoit, a Band member and Tribal employee, a person willing to risk potential ridicule, work with an agency that caused historical trauma, and start a new career path all for the greater good and to help make lasting decisions on LLBO’s homeland.

    Photo: Deer River District Ranger Ben Benoint and his daughter.

  • Chippewa National Forest Receives Chief’s Honor Award

    The Winnie Sand project is the first land management Environmental Assessment (EA) since the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO) and the Chippewa National Forest (CPF) entered into the 2019 MOU to address cultural concerns of the effects of forest management by the USFS on lands within the Leech Lake Reservation.  This cross-partner work within the interdisciplinary team (IDT) on the Winnie Sand project has placed resource staff from both the CPF and LLBO to implement not only Forest Management Plan (FMP) objectives, but also the Desired Vegetative Conditions of the LLBO as outlined in the MOU.

  • Realty team makes inspection trip to Star Island

    The Chippewa National Forest realty team administers 285 recreation residence special use permits on the Forest; these are tracts of leased forest land with private cabins. Inspections of these properties are required every five years or when a transfer of cabin ownership occurs. 

  • Middle Leader Program at Grey Towers

    Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go to Narnia or the Forest Service Hogwarts? Are you interested in learning more about yourself and how you can be an effective leader from where you are in the agency? Well, perhaps Middle Leader Program is for you!

  • Building Community

    On July 17, Deer River District Ranger Ben Benoit and I volunteered to help build a public playground in Deer River. We assembled and bolted equipment together, poured and stirred hundreds of pounds of concrete, and visited with community members. In return, the community and visitors of Deer River now have a new space to gather, to play, and to experience joy.

  • Welcoming New Employees to the Chippewa National Forest

    The 2023 Chippewa New Employee Orientation kicked off on June 12 with a half day of virtual programming. The rest of the event, June 13 – 15, was in-person at the Walker Ranger District office. Topics included the history of the Chippewa, our relationship with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, program area overviews, benefits, and a multitude of safety topics. 

  • Annual Youth Archaeology Workshop a Success

    The Chippewa National Forest hosted our annual  Youth Archaeology Workshop between June 6-8, 2023, at the Eagle Nest Lodge in the Deer River District. The Forest Service partnered with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to explore a precontact archaeological site at the resort (the term precontact is more accurate than prehistoric since people have been living in this area for thousands of years).

  • Loons and Oil Do Not Mix

    If someone were to ask you, what sound do you most commonly attribute to the Northwoods of Minnesota, what would your answer be? Would it be waves lapping at a lake edge, the wind blowing through towering white pines, or the long, lonely howl of a wolf in the distance? To many, the Northwoods would not be whole without the eerie but beautiful flute like calls of Minnesota’s state bird, the Common Loon.

  • Second Graders Continue Tradition on Chippewa!

    It was a beautiful Tuesday on the Chippewa National Forest, bright sunny skies and a warm day! USDA Forest Service personnel from across the Chippewa, including personnel from the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center met the 2nd Grade Class from King Elementary in Deer River, MN;  a tradition for over 20 years!

  • Tree Planting 2023

    It is that time of year again...the time when we enjoy warmer weather and longer days and are busy preparing for and jumping into field season.  The reforestation folks have been busy over the winter and early spring preparing for our fiscal year 2023 contracted activities. 

  • Opener: A Minnesota Tradition on the Chippewa National Forest

    For serious or even halfway-serious anglers in Minnesota, the fishing opener is a sacred holiday and the unofficial beginning of summer. This year’s opener is May 13, a day that roughly half a million anglers eagerly await each year.

  • Chippewa National Forest Iskigamizigan Camp

    Saturday, April 1 was a beautiful sunny day for the first ever Chippewa National Forest Iskigamizigan (Sugar Bush). The camp was held at the McAvity Bay boat landing, on Lake Winnibigoshish. Community members from across the Reservation and staff from the Chippewa National Forest were able to feast on bizhiki (buffalo) and zaazasagokwan (fry bread) and sample zhiiwaagamizigan (maple syrup) as well as learn and see everything about the maple syruping process, sample some delicious food, and enjoy great conversation in the Iskigmizigan (Sugar Bush).

  • A New Bookstore and Visitor Center News

    Exciting changes are coming soon to all Chippewa National Forest offices and Visitor Centers. In the next couple months, you will begin to see nature books, souvenirs, t-shirts, and other forest-themed items arriving at all Forest offices, ready to be set out for display and available for purchase. This is a wonderful development, as many know we have not had our bookstores open to the public since Spring 2020.

  • Birds Eye View – Update on Aerial Eagle Surveys on the Chippewa

    The Monitoring, Inventory, and Survey Team has made huge strides to keep the Chippewa’s long-term bald eagle data set up to date. With upwards of 350 bald eagle nests on the Forest this is a huge task! Only a portion of the nests can be surveyed each year, and many are hard to get too.

  • Wild Rice Access Improvement Project Completed

    Construction of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO) Wild Rice Access Improvement Project was completed in February and March 2023.  The project was recommended and developed in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe as part of the Ottertail Powerline Hunting and Gathering Agreement 2020-2025.

  • Time for Pancakes!

    When you think of maple syrup, the first image that pops into your mind is a large pile of pancakes with warm sweet syrup running down! Or, maybe you picture workhorses slogging through the snow, a sleigh laden with tree sap in tow. Maybe there’s a little wooden shack with a chimney emitting a plume of steam.

  • Ruffed Grouse Society Stewardship Project

    On July 5, 2022, the Ruffed Grouse Society/American Woodcock Society (RGS/AWS) signed a stewardship project agreement with the Chippewa National Forest’s Deer River and Walker Ranger Districts. The project improves early succession habitat along the Johnson Lake Hunter Walking Trail, south of Deer River, Minnesota, and surrounding areas for game and non-game species, specifically ruffed grouse, by patch clear cutting small blocks of mature aspen.

  • Prescribed Burning - 2023

    The Fire staff on the Chippewa National Forest are excited to move back into putting prescribed fire on the landscape in 2023.

  • The Discovery Center in Marcell – An Educational and Tourism Gem on the Chippewa

    Back in 1999, as part of a cost-saving initiative, a Forest decision was made to close and consolidate two Ranger District offices. Over several years, the offices in Cass Lake and Marcell were closed, and all employees, files, and equipment were moved to the remaining three. The Cass Lake buildings were transferred to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and served for many years as their law enforcement headquarters. The second office compound, just on the north side of Marcell, became what is now the Edge of the Wilderness Discovery Center grounds.

  • Winter on the Chippewa: Let’s go skiing at Simpson Creek

    The Simpson Creek Trail system winds through towering pines, around a great lake, and into the rich history of the Cut Foot Sioux area. Simpson Creek is located on State Highway 46, about 17 miles northwest of Deer River, Minnesota.

  • Wildfire On Ice Drops the Puck

    The annual Wildfire On Ice Hockey Tournament and Curling Bonspiel was in Walker the weekend of January 13th.  This year was the 12th annual event and the 10th straight year it was hosted in the town of Walker. The 2023 event raised over $29,000 to benefit the Wildland Firefighter Foundation!

  • Annual Candlelight Ski Glides into 33rd Year

    “More Kids in the Woods” is a continuing effort of the Forest Service in our long tradition of working with children so they will grow to appreciate and enjoy our forests and natural areas and all they have to offer. Getting the younger generation outside and active in the darker winter months can be even more of a challenge. In keeping with the theme, several people from the Chippewa teamed up with Community Education staff and teachers at Deer River to partner in hosting the Annual Candlelight Ski on a wooded trail behind King Elementary School.

  • A Tradition: Itasca Community College Field Visits on the Chippewa

    This year marks the 10th anniversary of a continued partnership between the Itasca Community College (ICC) Forest Management Class and Deer River Ranger District Timber Staff.

  • Technology in the Woods

    We have all heard of the benefits of getting less screen time and spending more time in the woods. But the Deer River timber staff have been using tablets in the woods to make their jobs more efficient.

  • Bald eagles continue to soar in the Winter

    The grace, strength, and beauty of the bald eagle can be admired all year long on the Chippewa National Forest.  Bald eagle populations generally migrate south for the winter between August and January, but there are a few “tough birds” that stick around.

  • Favorite Winter Places---Shingobee Hills

    Just after a new snow fall, drive out to Shingobee Hills,  south of Walker,  and don’t forget your sled.  At the top of the hill, you will find families in colorful coats flying down the curvy side of the hill on neon sleds.  Hats will fly off mid-hill, puffs of snow following the tobaggans. Shingobee is a favorite winter spot for many, with a great trail system, historic chalet, wildlife, and that fast steep sledding hill!  Shingobee Hills is one of the best places you can bring your family for winter fun----a chance to unplug your kids from high tech gadgets, get them outside and full of snow!

  • Winter on the Chippewa

    Winter on the Chippewa is a truly special time of year. From the fresh blankets of snow covering the trails to clear nights made for stargazing, winter is the perfect time to get out and enjoy the Forest.

  • Sleeping Soil: The Alternate Universe Awakened

    With snow piling up on the ground and winter settling across the Northland, all life seems to have entered a deep slumber. Aboveground, the leaves have long since fallen from the trees, animals are hibernating in their dens, and we humans have hunkered down for the long, cold winter. However, belowground lifeforms may still be wriggling with energy and active into the winter months. No, this isn’t The Upside Down from Stranger Things, it’s soil microbes! 

  • Up Up and Far Away!

    On October 12th, 2022, the Deer River Ranger District received a call for help. Teachers from the Central Cass Elementary School in Casselton, North Dakota, called to report that a weather balloon they sent up had marooned in the Chippewa National Forest.

  • Youth Archaeology Camp 2022

    The Chippewa National Forest participated in a Youth Archaeology Workshop on July 19 -21 after a two-year hiatus resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic.  The Forest Service partnered with the Minnesota Historical Society and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe to explore a ca. 1890s to 1930s farmstead on the grounds of the Forest History Center in Grand Rapids.  

  • Tornadoes and Windstorms Hit Deer River Area

    You could almost set your calendar to it.  Unseasonably and without fail, the month of May this year brought a new major windstorm somewhere in the Deer River area at least once a week.

  • Lady Slipper Scenic Byway - Orchid rescue and restoration project history

    The Lady Slipper Scenic Byway (Beltrami CSAH 39/ Cass Co 10) was designated a National Forest Scenic Byway in 1999; named for the abundance of Showy Lady’s Slipper orchids.

  • Spruce Decline on the Chippewa

    Last summer, Chippewa National Forest personnel noticed a decline in health of White Spruce stands throughout the Forest. This spruce decline is due to a combination of factors including: dense stocking, off-site planting, drought stress, an infestation of Spruce Budworm, along with a needle pathogen disease infecting many of the stands.

  • Lichen Foray

    Lichens… what are they? Have you ever observed a green, yellow, brown, or gray patch on a tree, stone, or even a building and wondered what it is? Chances are that the peculiar organisms you are observing are lichen.

  • What’s happening in Engineering on the Chippewa National Forest

    The Engineering and Operations team is in the early phases of implementing our new organization. After many months of discussion, the new organization chart was recently approved by the Forest Leadership Team to include Engineering, and for the first time ever, an Operations staff.

  • Chippewa Recreation Update 2022

    Spring took its time getting to the Chippewa but it arrived just in time for fishing opener and the start of our busy recreation season.  Our recreation staff worked extremely hard to make up for the lost prep time and managed to open all campgrounds with very few delays.

  • Dynamic Soil Properties Project

    The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Forest Service (FS) have partnered and are working together on a Soil Dynamic Properties project for forested areas in the Lake State. Dynamic soil properties (DSPs) are soil properties that change with natural and anthropogenic disturbances and stressors including agricultural and wildland management. DSPs are indicators of soil function and soil change. Information about how soils change due to management and how those changes impact soil functions are crucial to sustainable soil management on all kinds of lands.

  • 2022 Governors Fishing Opener

    This year's Governors Fishing Opener event took place May 13-14 in and around the Chippewa National Forest, Cass Lake, Lake Winnibigoshish, and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe lands. Started in 1948, the Governor's Fishing Opener kicks off summer tourism and celebrates an outdoors culture now enjoyed by 1.4 million licensed anglers.

  • Chippewa Tree Planting - 2022

    The winter of 2022 lingered a bit past it’s ‘welcome’ as far as tree planting is concerned.  There was snow on the ground until mid-late April across much of the Forest as well as the region.

  • Chippewa Joins with LLBO on Recreation Poster Project

    An ad-hoc team comprised of Forest Service (FS), Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO) Division of Resource Management, and LLBO Tribal Historic Preservation (LLBO) staff have been meeting since late January to develop posters for Chippewa National Forest (CNF) campgrounds and recreation areas that acknowledge LLBO’s relationship to the land in the past and present.

  • Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act

    The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act, signed into law by the President on December 23, 2020, transfers 11,760 acres of public land, currently managed by the Chippewa National Forest, to the Department of the Interior to be held in trust for the benefit of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

  • Active Timber Sales

    Timber sales that the forest is currently accepting bids for.

  • Introducing the Chippewa’s Renewable Resources Team 

    The Renewable Resources Team (formerly known as the Natural Resources Team) supports critical work across the Chippewa National Forest. Staff are involved in duties such as taking in and disseminating program direction from the national and regional offices, finding and coordinating with partners, managing budgets, and providing support to planning and implementation of projects on the ground.

  • Big Tree Champion on the Chippewa?

    Professional and amateur tree hunters are combing Minnesota looking for an elusive trophy, a big tree, and Nick Jensen of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource (MnDNR) in Bemidji, and it appears he "found" the tree by Camp Rabideau, on the Chippewa National.

  • 2023 Fire Season and International Support

    The 2023 fire season here in the US certainly saw its share of national mobilizations around the country. With numerous CPF employees lending support. The US season was well below average in terms of acres burned. This offered the opportunity for US resources to send support to our Canadian neighbors.

  • Surveying the Chippewa National Forest

    The Chippewa National Forest has been working collectively to implement the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation (LLBO) Restoration Act. One piece of this project that employees and the public may not know about is the survey work necessary to partition for the parcels of land around recreation residences.

  • OHV Information

    OHV Motor Vehicle Use Maps and Policy

  • Deer River Ranger District, in transition…

    Deer River District, like all successful organizations, is in transition. We move from day to day, year to year while learning, adapting, planning, and implementing. I’d like to share some focus areas of the past year while looking into the future.

  • Travel Analysis Report

    The Forest Service has released all the Travel Analysis Reports that analyze the existing roads systems and identify opportunities to achieve a more sustainable road system.

  • Walker Ranger District's Tribal Relations Forester

    When I first started as the Tribal Relations Forester in March 2023, I was advised that the duties and scope of the position were a bit undefined. To create some clarity, I reached out to my supervisor, the Walker District Ranger. Through the leadership of the Walker District Ranger, meetings were scheduled to include the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO), the Supervisor’s Office, and the three Districts within the Chippewa National Forest. Through these meetings, a tentative idea of duties was developed (which is highly fluid). Two of the immediate projects identified through these meetings to assist with are the Headquarters Bay Access Project and the Plughat Stewardship Agreement. I have project lead contacts within LLBO’s Department of Resource Management team that I have been regularly working with to create successful project outcomes.

  • Bat Week

    Bat Week is an annual, international celebration of bats and their importance. Bats play a critical role in plant pollination, seed dispersal, and pest control. This year’s celebration will occur the week of October 24- 31, 2023. There are more than 1,400 species of bat in the world! The smallest bat, the bumblebee bat, has a wingspan of less than 3 inches while the largest bat, flying fox, has a wingspan of 5 feet!

  • Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and The Nature Conservancy Seed Collection Training

    On a beautiful fall September day, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) hosted a Tree Seed Collection Training at the Supervisor’s Office (SO) in Cass Lake. Students converged on the SO from the surrounding area to learn about collecting seeds from native trees and shrubs. Students and Instructors brought seeds with them, so there were many different species present to learn about.

  • Welcome to the Bat Cave

    On October 26, the Deer River Ranger District office transformed its basement conference room into an educational bat cave. This free event welcomed over 140 members of the public into the building over three hours. Attendees made custom bat ear hats, learned about what makes bats a unique part of our ecosystem, compared their wingspans to that of bats from around the world, and added their own mark to a bat mural.

  • A View from a Vista!

    The Chippewa National Forest recreation staff on the Deer River Ranger District gets a different perspective of the Forest’s trails. Sitting atop our tractor mowing and brushing trails allows us an enhanced view of the scenery above the hazel and other crowded woody plants.

  • Chippewa National Forest Wild Rice Demonstration

    The Chippewa National Forest and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe hosted a traditional manoomin (wild rice) camp demonstration on Saturday, September 16. The camp was open to the public and was held at the Wanaki campground in the Norway Beach Recreation Area.

  • Boozhoo (Greetings) Chippewa Tribal Relations!

    Did you know that the Ojibwe people also refer to themselves and others as Anishinaabe? Translated to English, Anishinaabe means a person, a human, an Indian or Native, and an Ojibwe.

    The summer season is known by the Anishinaabe as Niibin, and June ushers in a season of plenty. Food, flowers, and medicine abound under the Blooming Moon (Waabgonii Giizis).

  • 2023 Forest Health Workshop

    Where is a good place to spend a cold, end-of-January day?  How about at a local Forest Health Workshop!  Well, after a hiatus of 2 years, the Forest Health Workshop was able to meet in-person once again.