There are many stories about people getting lost in the forest. But what happens to a forest when it gets lost? This children's book tells the true story of surveyors mapping northern Minnesota in 1882 who misidentified 144 acres of old-growth forest as a lake. That error wasn't noticed for over 75 years, and to this day those centuries-old trees stand tall as part of the Chippewa National Forest.
MN Reads has a conversation with Phyllis Root, the author of The Lost Forest, illustrated by Betsy Bowen and published in 2019 by University of Minnesota Press.
Accompanying the story is a wealth of information about the Cadastral Survey and about the plants and animals that inhabit forests, making the book a valuable guide for readers who might want to look even deeper into the history of Minnesota, the flora and fauna of old-growth forests, and the apportioning of land in America.
Minnesota Reads is produced at KUMD in Duluth, Minnesota with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.