At the turn of the twentieth century the land where the forest is now located, along with the majority of Minnesota, was logged and opened to homesteading, however the area proved to be unsuitable for agriculture. Many homesteads were abandoned after the old-growth forests were logged and the logging companies ceased the upkeep of their railroads, making the homesteads isolated. With the elimination of the red pine and eastern white pine that originally dominated the landscape, secondary successional species such as the northern hardwoods (aspen, red maple, paper birch, and sugar maple), red oak, and bur oak, established and are now the principal tree species in the forest. Although the species are no longer common in the forest, 36 acres (15ha) of red pine and 30 acres (12ha) of black ash are designated old-growth and are exempt from harvesting.
