Above: Children from Birch Grove Community School hold up the white pine seedlings they were going to plant in “Rajala’s Woods.” Left: Jack Hedstrom (left), retired vice-president of sales of Hedstrom Lumber Company, shook Jack Rajala’s hand at the tree planting event. Flanking Rajala are Erika Hodnick and Minnesota Power CEO Al Hodnick.
Like all loggers, Jack Rajala loves the forest. For three generations the Deer River family has made a good living logging and milling wood. But as any steward of the land knows, when you take something, you need to replace it, so Jack Rajala has spent the last 30 years seeing to it that 3.5 million white pine and 1.5 million red pine have been planted on 35,000 acres of Rajala-owned property.
For those efforts and for his 25 years of service on Minnesota Power’s ALLETE (MP) Board of Directors, Jack Rajala was honored at a ceremony just above Taconite Harbor Energy Center on Thursday, May 28, where the land was proclaimed “Rajala Woods.”
The property already has some white pine trees planted. Circular fences protect the limbs from browsing deer, which can kill the seedlings and small trees.
During the ceremony, it was windy, cold and some rain fell, but although the clouds threatened, they never completely broke open—“a perfect day” for Jack Rajala, said MP’s chief executive officer Al Hodnick as he smiled at his friend.
Hodnick said the $1.4 million Rajala Woods initiative seeks to restore and enhance white pine and other conifer tree species through management practices that will ensure the sustainable use of the forest, and improve biodiversity, conserve aquatic resources and enhance wildlife habitat and recreation.
The money to replant trees will come from stumpage fees the utility collects when it sells timber to loggers who harvest wood from its forestlands.
When it was his turn to speak, Rajala said, “When I think of trees, I think of them growing deep roots. When I think of Minnesota Power, I feel the same way. They have grown deep roots here in the Northland.”
Then Rajala looked over at Jack Hedstrom who was a speaker at the ceremony, and said, “Over the years we have been competitors and friends. Our families have both taken more than our share of trees, especially white pine, but like Hedstrom Lumber, Rajala Industries have been giving back, returning trees to the land.”
Hedstrom smiled and later when it was his turn to speak, he returned the compliment.
“We believe in the beauty and sustainability of the great northwoods,” said Hodnick. “We are fortunate to have with us today a man who embodies a commitment to forward looking management of our forests. Jack Rajala has spent a lifetime working with trees and timber through his family’s business. He has harvested the bounty of our forests while at the same time rejuvenating them.
“Since boyhood, Jack has gazed up in the northern Minnesota sky to marvel at the majesty of the red pine and the white pine. He has worked the forest floor, causing millions of these species to be planted for future generations.”
In 1998 Rajala penned a book called Bringing Back the White Pine. It has been called the definitive work on the species. At one time Minnesota had more than 5 million acres of white pine. Beginning in the 1850s, loggers took the vast majority of them and coupled with blister rust, a fungus that kills white pine, brought the total of white pine to less than 1 percent of the original total.
To honor Rajala, Minnesota Power plans to plant up to three million white, pine, red pine, and jack pine and spruce seedlings over the next 10 years near five communities (including the woods above Taconite Harbor Energy Center). The other areas are in Pillager, on property occupied by Minnesota’s Power’s Sylvan Hydroelectric project; at the Boulder Lake Management Area near Duluth; at the Blackwater Environmental Area in Cohasset, and on property adjacent to Colby Lake near Hoyt Lakes.
A total of 3,000 acres will be replanted in those areas using the Rajala Woods initiative as a catalyst. Minnesota Power will work with other collaborators to restore and enhance forest management across the northern Minnesota landscape.
Minnesota Power owns 30,000 acres throughout northeastern Minnesota, most of which is located at water storage reservoirs designed to support renewable hydroelectric power generation.
“We are excited to begin reforesting on the North Shore and continue across the region to connect with the Itasca County area where Jack has already built a legacy for forestry excellence. We hope our leadership, modeled after Jack’s efforts will encourage others in the region, which share a similar environmental stewardship vision for our forests, to take similar action to improve the health and quality of our forests,” said Hodnick.
Who is Jack Rajala?
Jack Rajala is the CEO of Rajala Companies of Deer River, a family business that produces lumber and other wood products. He served on the board of Minnesota Power’s parent company, ALLETE, from 1985 to 2010. Rajala has also served on the American Forest Council, American Lumber Standards Committee, the Minnesota Timber Producers Association and the National Forest Products Association.
“Jack understands fully that business and the environment can co-exist—and that they must coexist,” said MP’s CEO Al Hodnick.
“Five years ago Jack delivered a short speech in Cohasset when Minnesota Power christened its new, state-of-the-art emission control system on Boswell’s generating Unit 3. In honor of this major environmental initiative, we handed out white pine seedlings. At the end of his remarks, Jack held up one of the seedlings. He told the audience that if Boswell project was ever given a name, it should be called White Pine.
“Over many decades, Jack has expertly balanced the roles of businessman and conservationist. He can see the forest for the trees. There could be no better name to give this initiative than Rajala Woods,” said Hodnick.
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