Sherburne History Center Blog

  Conservationist, 4-H advocate, and educator of children and adults; all terms that describe Ella Kringlund in Elk River.   An early promoter of Sherburne County and their natural resources, Ella Kringlund enthusiastically worked to boost conservation.   In the midst of Women’s History Month, it seems appropriate to make record of her life and her mission in Sherburne County. Ella Kringlund is long remembered for her work restoring the land that is today Sand Dunes State Forest.   Her memoirs record her efforts to plant a variety of pine trees in the area.   When her project began in the mid-1940s (and continuing until 1965) each season she organized a tree planting as a 4-H project.   In time, Ella Kringlund and her volunteers planted an estimate seven million trees.   Her efforts proved so successful, a Christmas tree thinning project also developed. By conservation standards in 2000, the trees she planted may not fit the accepted norms.   Ye...

Meeting in the basement of the Big Lake Municipal Liquor Store, September 3, 1941, a group of men and women living in Sherburne County came together and organized the Sherburne County Conservation Club.   For the next forty-one years they met to develop and discuss plans for very necessary projects, to aid conservation in Sherburne County.   Because of drought, over-farming and several natural disasters, land in Sherburne County in the 1930s rapidly deteriorated.   Zimmerman was known as the poison ivy capitol of the world.   Sandstorms were so common, “there were days when Highway 10 was closed,” club member Art Nelson remembered.   An early project for the club called for tree plantings to develop wind breaks and stop the soil erosion.   Over the years, the club estimates millions of trees were planted in Sherburne County as part of the Conservation Club program.  Construction of a cement dam on Mud Lake, circa 1955, by the Sherbu...

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 a...