Pine- White Pine, Minnesota, Lake County, Superior National Forest
As iron mining expanded on the Mesabi Iron Range in the late 1890s, mining company bought large tracts of forestland. The Oliver Iron Mining Company, a division of U. S. Steel, purchased thousands of acres of forestland on Minnesota's Iron Ranges. Forest land was like money in the bank. Timber was a valuable commodity needed for railroad construction, underground mining operations; and the land might even bear extractible iron ore. However, the Oliver Mining Company decided to leave this timber stand in a natural state. Eventually, the U. S. Forest Service obtained the property to preserve the old growth stand of white pine. Some of the trees are over 250 years old. Over the years some trees succumbed to white pine blister rust disease.
Pine- White Pine, Minnesota, Lake County, Superior National Forest
As iron mining expanded on the Mesabi Iron Range in the late 1890s, mining company bought large tracts of forestland. The Oliver Iron Mining Company, a division of U. S. Steel, purchased thousands of acres of forestland on Minnesota's Iron Ranges. Forest land was like money in the bank. Timber was a valuable commodity needed for railroad construction, underground mining operations; and the land might even bear extractible iron ore. However, the Oliver Mining Company decided to leave this timber stand in a natural state. Eventually, the U. S. Forest Service obtained the property to preserve the old growth stand of white pine. Some of the trees are over 250 years old. Over the years some trees succumbed to white pine blister rust disease.