Denbigh Experimental Forest

The Denbigh Experimental Forest 636 acres (257 ha) is an arboretum and experimental forest operated by the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is located 15 miles (24 km) west of Towner, North Dakota. The forest contains about 30 species of woody plants, labeled and planted in a park-like setting, including Scots pine, ponderosa pine, Siberian larch, Black Hills spruce, Elaeagnus, and Rocky Mountain juniper. Wildlife includes deer, wild turkeys, porcupines, elk, and sometimes moose. The forest is also popular with birdwatchers. The forest was established in 1931 on a site extensively over-plowed and overgrazed during the early part of the 20th century, leaving wind-blown sand dunes and economic hardship. It was originally envisioned as part of a grand plan by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to plant a 100-mile (160 km) wide "shelterbelt zone" from North Dakota to north Texas to reduce wind erosion and eliminate dust storms, as well as provide local employment in the Great Depression via a jobs program. Proponents envisioned a forest as large as 480,000 acres (1900 km²) around the forest's current site. This grand vision never came to pass, and the forest was established with the more modest goals of determining which types of shelterbelt trees would grow well in the northern Great Plains, which seed sources within species are best adapted for the region

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