The Natural Resources Club at the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) planted their latest round of tree seedlings in the Chippewa National Forest (the Chippewa or the Chipp) this Arbor Day weekend. Led by former and current advisors Phil Baird and Laura Bell, 21 students joined the legacy of the ‘Crookston Crew’ at the annual event, bringing life to the forest and hands-on experience to their field of study. 

“It's a great day to go out in the woods and see everyone come together for one cohesive conservation project,” says Bell, lab services coordinator for the Natural Resources Department. 

The tradition started in 1982 when Baird, associate professor emeritus in the Natural Resources Department, met with a U.S. Forest Service employee at the Chippewa National Forest. They talked about bringing some students to the forest to plant a few trees and spend time outdoors. Decades later, the Natural Resources Club is still at it. 

“I never would have dreamed 43 years ago that the club would still be coming back and planting trees, let alone just be there and be a part of it,” says Baird.

This year, the crew planted 2,300 white pine seedlings in the Black Duck Ranger District of the Chippewa under sunny, rain-free skies. The crew lodged at the Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories, a University of Minnesota field station dedicated to biology, ecology, and conservation science teaching and research.

Along with spring planting, the crew removed the bud caps on past-planted seedlings, a process they incorporated around 20 years ago. Bud caps are paper covers placed over the terminal buds of trees to deter hungry deer, giving the seedlings a chance to grow. 

The longstanding tradition has created an indelible spirit of goodwill between the University and the Chippewa. Now the longest-standing volunteer tradition at the forest, a key part of the trip for Baird and Bell is for students to interact with Forest Service personnel. Getting to learn about their careers, and working alongside them, offers the students a prolific network of references and connections that could lead to internships and jobs. 

“We now have probably as many UMC graduates that have been employed on the Chip as there are from any other college campus,” laughs Baird.

To date, the Crookston Crew has planted nearly a quarter of a million trees. They have been recognized by the U.S. Forest Service Eastern Region Office and won the 2018 National USDA Forest Service Volunteers & Service Award, presented by the chief and deputy chief of the Forest Service. The Forest Service has estimated that the club has contributed more than $500,000 worth of volunteer efforts since the tradition began, and they’re not slowing down.

“The momentum is there because the students give it momentum. And I'm just happy that I get to go along,” says Bell. 

Baird agrees.

“When you're out and you're planting several hundred trees and putting them in the ground, thinking about what it could end up being 40 years, 50 years, 100 years long after you're gone, it's a unique aspect of conservation—that anything that you do today is something that is going to be greater than you are.” 

Learn more about Crookston’s Natural Resources Club and Natural Resources program.