The Beltrami Island State Forest is a state forest

State forest

A state forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign state.The precise application of the term varies by jurisdiction...

 located in Lake of the Woods

Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota

Lake of the Woods County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 4,045. Its county seat is Baudette. The county contains the Northwest Angle, the northernmost point of the Lower 48 States, and includes the U.S. portion of Lake of the Woods, shared with...

, Roseau

Roseau County, Minnesota

Roseau County is a county located in the state of Minnesota, United States. As of 2010, the population was 15,629. Its county seat is Roseau.-Geography:...

, and Beltrami

Beltrami County, Minnesota

Beltrami County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 44,442. Its county seat is Bemidji. Portions of the Leech Lake and Red Lake Indian reservations are in the county. The northernmost portion of the Mississippi River flows...

 counties, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. Named after Italian explorer Giacomo Beltrami

Giacomo Beltrami

Giacomo Costantino Beltrami was an Italian jurist, author, and explorer, best known for claiming to have discovered the headwaters of the Mississippi River in 1823 while on a trip through much of the United States...

, it is the second-largest state forest in the Minnesota system after Pine Island State Forest

Pine Island State Forest

The Pine Island State Forest is a Minnesota state forest located primarily in Koochiching County, although portions extend into Beltrami, Lake of the Woods, and Itasca counties...

. The largest wildlife management area

Wildlife Management Area

Wildlife Management Areas are protected areas set aside in for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife.-United States:In the U.S., WMAs exist in the following states:* Alabama* Florida* Georgia* Louisiana...

 in the state at 321149 acres (129,964.5 ha), the Red Lake Wildlife Management Area, is located within the forest. The majority of the forest is managed

Forest management

200px|thumb|right|[[Sustainable development|Sustainable]] forest management carried out by [[Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli|Complejo Panguipulli]] has contributed to the preservation of the forested landscape around [[Neltume]], a sawmill town in Chile...

 by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, recreational trails, and recreation areas as well as managing minerals,...

, although a significant portion are tribal lands

Indigenous land rights

Indigenous land rights are hangtime the rights of indigenous peoples to land, either individually or collectively. Land and resource-related rights are of fundamental importance to indigenous peoples for a range of reasons, including: the religious significance of the land, self-determination,...

 belonging to the neighboring Red Lake Band of Ojibwe

Red Lake Indian Reservation

The Red Lake Indian Reservation covers 1,258.62 sq mi in parts of nine counties in northern Minnesota, United States. It is divided into many pieces, although the largest piece is centered about Red Lake, in north-central Minnesota, the largest lake entirely within that state. This section lies...

.

French explorers

French colonization of the Americas

The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...

 came to the area around 1730 in their search for a route to the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, retaining control of the area via the fur trade until after 1760, when the British Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 gained control of the area. The Treaty of 1818

Treaty of 1818

The Convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, also known as the London Convention, Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Convention of 1818, or simply the Treaty of 1818, was a...

 gave the Americans technical control over the area, although the Ojibwe

Ojibwa

The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...

 retained control over the land until ceding all their holdings in the Red River Valley

Red River Valley

The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. It is significant in the geography of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for its relatively fertile lands and the population centers of Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Winnipeg...

 as a result of the Treaty of Old Crossing

Treaty of Old Crossing

By the Treaty of Old Crossing and the Treaty of Old Crossing , the Pembina and Red Lake bands of the Ojibwe, then known as Chippewa Indians, purportedly ceded to the United States all of their rights to the Red River Valley...

 in 1863.

The majority of land in the forest is coniferous swamp

Coniferous swamp

Coniferous swamps are forested wetlands in which the dominant trees are lowland conifers such as northern white cedar . The soil in these swamp areas are typically saturated for most of the growing season and are occasionally inundated by seasonal storms or winter snow melt.The substrate is usually...

 dominated by species such as black spruce, tamarack, and northern white cedar

Thuja occidentalis

Thuja occidentalis is an evergreen coniferous tree, in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is widely cultivated for use as an ornamental plant known as American Arbor Vitae. The endemic occurrence of this species is a northeastern distribution in North America...

, although red pine, jack pine, and aspen

Aspen

Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...

 exist in upland areas. Much of the pine that characterizes the upland acreage were planted by the federal Civilian Conservation Corps

Civilian Conservation Corps

The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...

 in the 1930s, based out of Norris Camp now located in the Red Lake WMA portion of the forest. Within the perimeters of the forest are the headwaters of the Roseau River, Warroad River

Warroad River

-References:***USGS Hydrologic Unit Map - State of Minnesota...

, Rapid River, and Moose River. All rivers ultimately drain northward into Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...

 due to the forests location north of the Laurentian Divide

Laurentian Divide

The Laurentian Divide or Northern Divide is a continental divide dividing the direction of water flow in eastern and southern Canada and the northern Midwestern United States. Water north of the height of land flows to the Arctic Ocean by rivers to Hudson Bay or directly to the Arctic...

.

Outdoor recreation

Outdoor recreation

Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity is leisure pursuits engaged in outside, especially in natural or semi-natural settings out of town...

 activities include hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

 and mountain biking

Mountain biking

Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...

 on provided trails, as well as backcountry camping. Trail

Trail

A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...

s include 25 miles (40.2 km) of hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

, 27 miles (43.5 km) of horseback riding

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

, 238 miles (383 km) available for Class I and II all-terrain vehicle

All-terrain vehicle

An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...

 use as well as dirt biking, and 138 miles (222.1 km) for snowmobiling. Nearby Zippel Bay State Park

Zippel Bay State Park

Zippel Bay State Park is a state park in Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota in the United States. It is on the white sand beach shoreline of the Lake of the Woods, near the United States border with Canada...

 and adjacent Hayes Lake State Park

Hayes Lake State Park

Hayes Lake State Park is a state park in northwestern Minnesota, United States, near the town of Roseau.-External links:*...

 have facilities suitable for camping

Camping

Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...

.