LACRESCENT, Minn. – A $45,000 project has begun to wipe out invasive brambles that have taken over the long-abandoned Stoney Point orchard on La Crescent’s west side. Conservationist Erik Thomsen said that the overgrown hill now is on its way to becoming a hardwood forest of hackberry, hickory, maple, and oak. The city acquired the orchard in the 1950s for hiking trails but failed to maintain grooming. Soon invasive buckthorn, honeysuckle and round-leaf bittersweet squeezed out everything else. Step One to establish a hardware forest began last week with what’s called “forestry mowing” to cut off the weeds and truck away the debris. Next will be hand-cutting and herbicide treatment, then the planting of hardwood seedlings. The new forest of 600 hardwoods will be in place, albeit very young, by the Spring 2026, Thomsen said. The project was jumpstarted with a $41,000 grant from the state Natural Resources Department.
LaCrescent’s eco-disaster site. After years of neglect, the city finally is getting its act together with reforestation project.
Rogue’s gallery of invasive species
Broad leaf bittersweet vine.
Amur honeysuckle shrub.
Small buckhorn tree.
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Dorer Hardwood State Forest
The model for hardwood conservation projects is the Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest. It’s a one million-acre reserve in non-contiguous units spread over seven southeast Minnesota counties drained largely by the Root, Whitewater and Zumbro rivers. These counties are Dakota, Fillmore Goodhue, Olmsted Houston, Wabasha and Winona. Some 45,000 acres were state owned. The remainder are privately owned but governed by easements. The forest is named for a state commissioner of conservation who joined the agency in 1938. Alarmed at the erosion of hillsides in southeast Minnesota, Dorer came up with a plan to create a state hardwood forest with native trees and shrubs. It was his passion: “Our living standard can be no higher than the standard of our natural resources.” Dorer died in 1973 and was buried in the Whitewater valley of Winona County. The forest was christened with his name in 1974. Today the forest includes camping, fishing, horseback riding trails, an extensive network of hiking and nature trails, and off-highway vehicle trails.
Dorer, 1898-1973. Creekside with fishing rod and basket.
Dorer profile
A classmate was Dwight Eisenhower at West Point and was awarded the Purple Heart and Distinguished Service Cross for World War I service. He is regarded as the father of the Save the Wetlands and the Hardwood Forest movements.