As temperatures rise, ‘climate smart’ trees sprout in Minnesota
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In August 2021, a wildfire ripped through the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota, scorched more than 26,000 acres and nearly burned Michael Furtman’s cabin to the ground.
The flames stopped just a few feet from his front door, but wiped out entire stands of towering white pine trees that were once visible from his dock on McDougal Lake.
“We were in the midst of a drought, hot and dry,” Furtman says. “The winds shifted and blew the fire right down our throats.”
A third of Minnesota is covered in forest, which has lured outdoor enthusiasts for generations and supported native communities for much longer. But warmer temperatures, drought and disease are putting trees. In northern Minnesota, average low temperatures during the winter have degrees since
