The University of Minnesota's Cloquet Forestry Center is one of the oldest experimental forests in the nation. Since it was created in 1910 the Center has provided education, research, and outreach services to a vast array of students, resource professionals, forestland owners, and community members. A key issue is managing the forest in a manner that allows it to support ever-changing research and education needs.

To trace the course of research and educational activity at the Center is to follow the development of forest management in the upper Great Lakes region. Emphasis during the past century has moved from reforestation, to intermediate stand treatments, to harvesting, to mixed species management. The role of continuing education has expanded, as have programs for private woodland owners. A new set of programs is developing which aim to blend art, history, and science, bringing a better understanding to each.

Yet as administrators, research programs, and educational services change, much of the Center's forest landscape remains the same. Through purposeful and intense management, many compositional characteristics of the forest resemble those of nearly one hundred years ago. The result is a forest that not only reflects the past, but for many, represents the future.

A brief visual and oral history of the Center will be given along with summaries of its mission and goals. Management philosophies and practices will be shared, demonstrating how the Cloquet Forestry Center maintains a relatively constant forest landscape while adapting to changing research, education, and administrative needs.