Thirty-three years after local authorities took control of thousands of acres of damaged land, a former mining centre in central Minnesota has completed one of the Midwest’s most striking ecological transformations. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) established the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area in 1993, taking over 5,000 acres of abandoned iron mines and 15 flooded open pits. According to state records published in Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazine, the former industrial site is now a major recreation area with more than 50 miles of singletrack mountain bike trails and 25 miles of natural, undeveloped shoreline.
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