Jack LaMar of Early Frost Farms with his first load of seedlings
Dotted across the northern Minnesota landscape are about twenty-five farmers and nursery owners who are doing something you’ve likely never heard of. They’re growing tree seedlings for a “forest assisted migration” project begun in 2020 in conjunction with the University of Minnesota-Duluth. What is forest assisted migration and why do we need it? Well assisted migration is the movement of species with a little help from humans. Warming temperatures across the state have begun to change the nature of our forests. Minnesota’s climate has already shifted 240 kilometers to the north—that’s 150 miles! We’re used to having boreal forest in the far north, mixed forest a bit south of us, broadleaf forest in the central part of the state and prairie in the southwest. The temperature changes that the state has been experiencing mean that, by 2070, we won’t have boreal forest at all, and the prairie will advance to just south of Duluth.
That will be a real challenge for a northern Minnesota economy dependent (logging, hunting, tourism) on a boreal forest environment. Researchers at the University of Minnesota-Duluth have for several decades been studying whether wild plants and trees can adapt quickly enough to keep up with climate change. The answer is no. So if we want to have forest in northern Minnesota, we humans need to assist: forest assisted migration. Gathering seeds from trees in central Minnesota, sprouting them and growing them to about four inches, then planting them into the current forest will enable them to replace the Paper Birch, Aspen, and Black and White Spruce that will be struggling to survive in warmer temperatures.
This is a massive effort! The farmers and nursery owners are part of a “Farm and Forest Growers” cooperative, and the seedlings they raise are being purchased by The Nature Conservancy for strategic planting. Private individuals and area Soil and Water Conservation Districts are purchasing and planting too. The local project aims to have one hundred growers with 10,000 trees each by 2027. They just received funding form the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) and the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) to help support growers in the effort. And there’s a new tool to help. The Nature Conservancy and American Forests published a new online tool called the Reforestation Hub which lets interested growers explore every county in the contiguous U.S. to find out where the greatest needs are and visualize results. Minnesota needs to reforest 2.9 million acres.
It's not just aesthetics---the “what will we do without our forests” lament—that’s driving this. Forests are powerful carbon capturers. They pull carbon dioxide (that gas we have way too much of) out of the air and give us oxygen. I remember seeing a cartoon a few years ago saying that if trees gave off wi-fi, we’d be planting them by the millions. Too bad they only give off oxygen! In terms of climate change, the big deal is that they store carbon. So we get a double reward for doing forest assisted migration--we get to preserve a more species-diverse and resilient forest and feel like we’ve done something substantial to help mitigate climate change.
Planting oak seedlings last year
The farmers and nursery owners who are participating are part of something new, and they’re learning every season what works best to grow trees from seed. Red Oak, Bur Oak, Yellow Birch, River Birch, and American Basswood are predicted to do well here in the future. Jack LaMar of Early Frost Farms in Embarrass just planted eleven thousand one hundred Bur and White Oak for 2025 delivery. He owns the now-closed greenhouse in Embarrass and is using the large, protected spaces for the seedlings. Jack has more space available if there are growers who are interested. Across northern Minnesota, the seedlings are being grown in greenhouses, open fields, high tunnels and at existing nurseries. The technical term is “climate-smart seedlings.” They are grown from seeds gathered in the current mixed forest areas of Minnesota which have a climate much like we will have in fifty years.
We won’t have the same kind of forest then, but we’ll have a forest, if we can meet this challenge. Meredith Cornett, the Climate Change Director for The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota and North/South Dakota, has done some calculations. To meet a recommended goal of reforesting forty percent of the 2.9 million total acres needed in Minnesota by 2040 would require 43.3 million seedlings per year. Northern Minnesota’s goal of one million seedlings a year by 2027 will be a start. Growers are paid by The Nature Conservancy for the seedlings they raise and given technical assistance and some equipment as well by the local project. If you’re interested in becoming a grower, contact David Abazs at the Northeast Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (218-940-2196).