Ray Clement, Ella Kringland and Sand Dunes State Forest

A conservationist described the Sand Dunes State Forest as “A green dream come true.”  An area recovered from desolate, sandy soil to “a nature lover’s dream.”  An area in Orrock Township, at one time regarded as decent farmland.  With the coming drought in the 1930s the land became a farmer’s nightmare.  By 1940, farmers and Sherburne County residents described the land in Orrock Township as a wasteland, the epicenter of the poison ivy capital of the world, and the home of Zimmerman sand.  The land was so bad “the jack rabbits carried lunch bags as they hopped over the area.”

Beginning in 1943, a transformation took hold and the resurrection of tillable land came about.  In no small part, this dramatic change resulted from efforts by Ray Clement, the Minnesota Forest Service and County conservationist Ella Kringland.    Farmers abandoned land or surrendered to tax forfeiture.   Clement petitioned the state legislature to set aside part of this Orrock Township land and plant trees as part of a restoration plan.

 

Ella Kringland, from SHC photo collections:
 1990.201.256 

Legislative action in 1943 resulted in the creation of Sand Dunes State Forest.   4-H members, the Issac Walton League, sportsmans’ clubs, the county commission, and a number of other volunteers helped plant trees in the new state space.  Slowly, the Sand Dune State Forest was changed from wasteland to forest.  After Clement’s lobbying work, volunteers organized by Ella Kringland planted trees.  Ella is credited with organizing groups to plant 3 million trees in the Sand Dunes State Forest.

In a brief autobiography, Ella explained the dramatic planting as a result of automation.  “A tree planting machine can easily plant more than 1,000 seedlings per hour,” she wrote.  “In 1945, 25,000 evergreen seedlings were planted by machine on thirteen acres.” 

Each year Ella organized planting projects for the state forest.  Until her retirement in 1967, Ella Kringland led the charge to plant Norway Pine, Jack Pine, White Pine and Red and White Cedar in the sandy soil.  Before the efforts of Kringland and her army of volunteers, the area around Orrock Township was described as “Mother Nature’s game of real estate transfer.”  The planted trees slowly established themselves and held the sandy soil.  Clement’s, Kringland’s, and other conservationists’ efforts made Sand Dunes State Forest the “green dream come true.”