Upended trees in Diamond Point Park in Bemidji
The Associated Press
CASS LAKE, Minn. - Forest managers are trying to determine how best to clean up trees knocked down by straight-line winds that roared across northern Minnesota in early July.
The storm knocked down hundreds of thousands of trees from Bemidji to Grand Rapids.
Norway Beach on Cass Lake was hit hard. Minnesota Public Radio News reports old-growth red pines - many between 100 and 200 years old - are strewn across the landscape.
Chippewa National Forest Supervisor Darla Lenz says about half of the 170 campsites at Norway Beach were occupied when the winds whipped through. Lenz considers it "a miracle" that no one was hurt or killed.
Norway Beach probably won't reopen this summer. Several other recreation areas are closed indefinitely, along with more than 100 miles of bike and hiking trails.
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