Itasca State Park () is a state park of Minnesota, United States, and contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The park spans of northern Minnesota, and is located about north of Park Rapids, Minnesota and from Bagley, Minnesota. The park is part of Minnesota's Pine Moraines and Outwash Plains Ecological Subsection and is contained within Clearwater, Hubbard, and Becker counties.
Itasca State Park was established by the Minnesota Legislature on April 20, 1891, making it the first of Minnesota's state parks and second oldest in the United States, behind Niagara Falls State Park. Henry Schoolcraft determined Lake Itasca as the river's source in 1832. It was named as a National Natural Landmark in 1965, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. About 500,000 people visit Itasca State Park annually.
History Approximately 7–8,000 years ago, Native American hunters pursued wild animals for food in the Itasca State Park region. These early people ambushed bison, deer, and moose at watering sites and killed them with stone–tipped spears. The bison kill site along Wilderness Drive in the park gives visitors historical insight about this period.
A few thousand years later, a group of people of the Woodland Period arrived at Lake Itasca. They lived in larger, more permanent settlements and made a variety of stone, wood, and bone tools. Burial mounds from this era can be seen today at the Itasca Indian Cemetery.
In 1832 Anishinaabe guide Ozaawindib led explorer Henry Schoolcraft to the source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca. It was on this journey that Schoolcraft, with the help of an educated missionary companion, created the name Itasca from the Latin words for "truth" and "head" (veritas caput).Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Itasca. 2007. 22 April 2007 <http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/itasca/narrative.html > In the late 19th century, Jacob V. Brower, historian, anthropologist and land surveyor, came to the park region to settle the dispute of the actual location of the Mississippi's headwaters. Brower saw this region being quickly transformed by logging, and was determined to protect some of the pine forests for future generations. It was Brower's tireless efforts to save the remaining pine forest surrounding Lake Itasca that led the state legislature to establish Itasca as a Minnesota State Park on April 20, 1891, by a margin of only one vote.Itasca State Park, Visit Bemidji, http://www.visitbemidji.com/itasca_state_park.html . Through his conservation work and the continuing efforts of others throughout the decades, the grounds of Itasca had been maintained.
Established in 1909, Itasca Biological Station and Labs (IBSL) is one of the oldest and largest continuously operated inland field training centers in the United States.The Wildest Classroom in Minnesota, Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories, http://cbs.umn.edu/itasca/. This site serves as a research facility and a site for summer-session undergraduate field biology courses for the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences. Each year new College of Biological Sciences students attend the "Nature of Life" orientation program which is held by the lake, allowing the study of a diverse, undisturbed environment from the organismal level to that of an entire ecosystem.
Landscape Lake Itasca, the official source of the Mississippi River and a scenic area of northern Minnesota, has remained relatively unchanged from its natural state. Most of the area has a heavy growth of timber that includes virgin red pine, which is also Minnesota's state tree. Some of the red pine in Itasca are over 200 years old.
The Itasca terrain is sometimes referred to as "knob and kettle". The knobs are mounds of debris deposited directly by the ice near the edge of glaciers or by melt–water streams flowing on or under the glacier's surface. The kettles are depressions, usually filled with water, formed by dormant ice masses buried or partially buried under glacial debris that later melted. The retreat of the ice around 10,000 years ago left behind 157 lakes of varying size that cover of Itasca State Park. The glaciers deposited a moraine, a combination of silt, clay, sand, and gravel that covers the landscape to a depth of around .Anita Cholewa and David Biesboer, Common Plants of Itasca State Park, Minnesota: Bell Museum of Natural History, 2005 The park also integrates of upland and of swamp.
Biology and ecology
Plant life
The Itasca area's old-growth pine forests are almost as famous as the Mississippi headwaters. The area is currently one of the few places in state that has preserved these ancient pines from destruction. These pine forests were the main concern of Brower when he pushed to preserve the area as a state park. Logging operations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries depleted the large pine forests found in the park. Logging ended around 1920.Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Itasca State Park Management Plan. Minnesota, 1998.
Pine restoration has been attempted dating back to 1902, but with limited success.Snow, Kristin. Management of Pine Regeneration in Itasca State Park. Minnesota, 1999. Fire suppression in the area has eliminated wildfires in the park since the 1920s. Fire is necessary to the regeneration of white, red, and jack pines in the area because it opens the forest floor and canopy for new trees to grow. An overpopulation of white-tailed deer also stunt the regeneration efforts of these pines, as deer browse young pine seedling and prevent them from maturing into trees.
A combination of jack pine and northern pin oak dominated the park before European settlement. Among the numerous varieties of trees Itasca accommodates are quaking aspen, bigtooth aspen, paper birch, red pine, white pine, as well as a mix of northern hardwoods. Current vegetation of the park now include: eastern white pine, red pine, aspen–birch, mixed hardwoods, jack pine barrens, and conifer bog. Logged areas of white and red pine are now home to a combination of aspen and birch trees, with aspen being the most dominant species of tree in the park today. The four principal forest communities in this locale remain to be aspen–birch, red pine, white pine, and northern hardwoods.
The park is home to fourteen plants placed on the state endangered species list; these consist of ram's–head lady's slipper (Cypripedium arietinum), olivaceous spike–rush (Eleocharis olivacea), bog adder's–mouth (Malaxis paludosa), slender naiad (Najas gracillma), and sheathed pondweed (Potamogeton vaginatus).
Fauna Three terrestrial biomes, coniferous forest, deciduous forest, and prairie all intersect in the Itasca region and allow habitat for numerous vegetation and animals. Itasca is home to over 200 bird species encompassing: bald eagles, loons, grebes, cormorants, herons, ducks, owls, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, kinglets, vireos, tanagers, finches, and warblers. Residing among the many trails in the park are over 60 types of mammals including beaver, porcupine, black bear, and Great Lakes wolves.
The white-tailed deer overpopulation has caused problems within the park. According to 1998 statistics it was estimated that the density of deer is around 15 to 17 per square mile compared with the 4–10 per square mile in similar areas in Wisconsin. The cause of the deer boom was the addition of man-made open spaces and a deer protection zone put in place from the early 20th century until the 1940s. Annual deer hunts have been held since 1940 in an effort to curb white tail deer population.
The caddisfly Chilostigma itascae is only known to live in Nicollet Creek in the park.
National Natural Landmark designation Under the name of Itasca Natural Area, the area was designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service under the Historic Sites Act. It received this designation in November 1965 from the United States Secretary of the Interior, giving it recognition as an outstanding example of the nation's natural history. The designation describes its significance: The area contains some of the finest remaining stands of virgin red pine, spruce-balsam fir, and maple-basswood-aspen forest, supporting 141 bird and 53 mammal species, including bald eagles.
Climate
Itasca State Park lies in northern Minnesota; a location that can be affected by three major air masses. An Arctic air stream extends south from Canada during the winter months; Pacific air that follows strong west winds move over the area and during the summer month a tropical air stream flows north from the Gulf of Mexico. These various air masses have a strong effect on the climate of the area around Itasca State Park.
The winter climate produces extremely cold temperatures, with an average minimum temperature for Itasca being . This cold weather is accompanied with snowfall amounts averaging around annually. A combination of the Arctic air with heavy snowfall and wind can create severe blizzard conditions in the area.
In the summer, the Pacific and tropical winds from the Gulf create warm to hot temperatures, with the highs during July averaging . However a clash of cool, dry polar air from Canada and the moisture from the southern tropical Gulf air can lead to showers and thunderstorms. The average annual rainfall in the Itasca area is . It has a relatively short growing season, with the first frost usually occurring in late September to early October and the first frost-free days not occurring until mid-May or early June.
Recreation
Itasca State Park's recreational activities cover all four seasons of the year. Within the restored log building headquarters is a 31-bed youth hostel operated by Hostelling International USA, open to travelers of all ages.
Spring reels in the fishermen for the May fishing openers of walleye, northern pike, bass, and panfish. The park is in full bloom including a vast array of wildflowers. Birding is also a popular spring activity as the varying species return from migration.
Lake Itasca is a popular location for summer activities in Minnesota, with 496,651 visitors in 2006. Fishing, canoeing, boating, and kayaking equipment are always accessible. On land recreation consists of biking via the Heartland Trail, horseback riding, and hiking. A section of the North Country National Scenic Trail passes through the park's southern tier and includes three backcountry campsites. Numerous historical sites are available to view. The headwaters of the Mississippi River are one of the most visited sites featured at the park. Tourists can visit the new Mary Gibbs Visitor Center and the exhibits at the Jacob V. Brower Visitor Center. The park also offers a climb up the historic Aiton Heights Fire Tower.
Fall reveals an array of colors amidst the variety of trees throughout the park. This is another season suited to biking, hiking, or even take a leisurely walk through the designated trails. The park offers worth of hiking trails.
Winter lures in the ice fishermen, who gather on Lake Itasca. Snowmobilers can travel hundreds of miles of groomed snowmobile trails, while the skiers use of cross country skiing trails (both novice and skilled level) that are maintained regularly.
Park facilities