Historian-author Newell Searle joins host Steve Francisco for a fascinating discussion about how the Minnesota National Forest, now known as the Chippewa National Forest, was created by Congress in 1902.
Mr. Searle, the author of an award-winning paper, “Minnesota National Forest: The Politics of Compromise, 1898-1908,” describes the diverse alliance of lumbermen, settlers, social reformers, the Minnesota Federation of Women’s Clubs, and various government officials whose compromises finally led to the creation of the national forest and laid the cornerstone for Minnesota’s conservation legacy.
He also explores the exploitation of Native Americans in Northern Minnesota by various reformers who supposedly represented their “best interests.”
