Contributed report
Maple Lake Boy Scouts experienced one of the seven wonders of Minnesota this fall when they traveled to Chippewa National Forest and walked among the Lost 40.
According to the US Forest Service, Minnesota was one of the largest timber-producing states in the country in the late 1800s, but 144 acres of red and white pines went untouched by loggers when a surveying error mapped the area as part of Coddington Lake. That error left Minnesota with one of its greatest treasures – the Lost 40 pines. The Lost 40 are 300–400-year-old red and white pine trees, which means they were saplings when the pilgrims came to America. Today, less than two percent of Minnesota’s forested land contains old growth timber like the Lost 40.