Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve

Dr. William S. Cooper, head of the botany department at the University of Minnesota, urged a newly formed committee of the Minnesota Academy of Science to purchase part of the Anoka Sand Plain in 1937. The Cedar Creek Forest was a bit of natural Minnesota worthy of active protection from disturbance, he believed. He and others would help establish and protect what became the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, about thirty miles north of the Twin Cities.

Named for the creek flowing through it to the Rum River, the Cedar Creek Forest contains lakes, bogs, sedge meadows, marsh, mixed pine and hardwood forests, savanna, prairie, and small farm fields. The retreat of the last glacier about 11,000 years ago created a diverse landscape where three biomes meet: prairie, coniferous forests, and deciduous forests.

The area is rich in human history. Native people have lived in and traveled through it for thousands of years. The Dakota and Ojibwe fought a battle at nearby Bethel in Isanti County in 1857. Soldiers from Fort Snelling scavenged the forest and cut down white pine for firewood in the 1820s and 1830s.

Much of the area was later sold to the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad Company. Although farming was difficult, early settler-colonists planted rutabagas, wheat, and potatoes in the area. Marsh, swamps, and open water were drained for haymaking and the grazing of dairy animals.

Scientists began surveying Cedar Creek Forest’s plants, animals, and geology by the late 1920s. Raymond Lindeman’s influential research from 1936 to 1941 at Cedar Bog Lake was encouraged by Dr. Cooper and launched the field of ecosystem science. His work on the flow of energy through food webs proved it was possible to measure the relationships that connect organisms to each other and to their environment.

The Minnesota Academy of Science initially purchased 160 acres of the forest, including Cedar Bog Lake, the site of Lindeman’s research. Private citizens also helped. Local resident Cora Corniea invited academy members to her cabin to see the area. She had researched tax-forfeit tracts and would purchase 600 acres herself, most of which she later gifted to the university.

The Academy of Science suggested the university take ownership of its holdings in 1940. The university then created a joint agreement on best-use policies and practices with the academy. Representatives from the university, Carleton and Macalester Colleges, and Saint John’s University formed a first advisory committee, with the goal of fostering cross-discipline collaboration at the forest. The University of Minnesota Graduate School would administer the effort.

Metro-area development after World War II moved the university to seek funds to acquire and protect more of the forest. It was helped by a significant grant from the Max C. Fleischmann Foundation of Nevada in 1954. Large-scale ecosystem research at Cedar Creek expanded within the forest’s approximately 5,400 acres.

By 1960, research included studies of small mammals, the energy of plant communities, and deposits of pollen in peat bogs. Eleven Minnesota colleges and universities held classes, organized field trips, or conducted specialized studies at Cedar Creek. Dozens of scientific papers on reserve-related subjects were published. Hundreds of local, state, national, and international guests visited.

Over the next fifty years, Cedar Creek continued to lead in the field of ecology. The use of radio telemetry to track animals automatically was pioneered at there. Controlled burning of abandoned farm fields and oak savanna remains one of the longest-running fire experiments in the world. World-famous long-term experiments in biodiversity, local ecosystem succession, and climate change are ongoing at the site. Citizen-science initiatives, including the Red-Headed Woodpecker Recovery Project, provide opportunities for the community to contribute to scientific research.

Cedar Creek has earned national recognition and is part of multiple worldwide science and research networks. Jobs and training opportunities for hundreds of young professionals have been created. In 2017 the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve celebrated seventy-five years of conservation, research, and education. Scientists, students at all levels, teachers, and the public at large come to Cedar Creek for birding, animal monitoring, citizen-science festivals, book clubs, and biology classes. They gather to look at ferns, stars, wetlands, and other curiosities, and to do world-class ecosystem research.