DNR wildlife manager details how nature was impacted by Bemidji storm
One year after Bemidji's devastating June 2025 storm, Minnesota DNR's Blane Klemek looks back on the impact the storm had on the local wildlife and environment.
BEMIDJI — Nature is resilient. Blane Klemek knows that very well.
He’s seen it firsthand throughout his two-plus-decade career at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. So when Bemidji got hit with a once-in-a-lifetime storm last June, he knew there’d be a lot of cleanup to be done around the region — including his own 30-acre property, which suffered significant tree damage.
Bemidji and the surrounding area lost an estimated 9 million trees after the storm. But as it tends to do, nature and wildlife found ways to adapt.
“Wildlife, in general, is very resilient,” said Klemek, who is the northwest regional wildlife manager for the DNR and an outdoors columnist for the Pioneer. “Now, there isn’t any evidence that this storm has impacted wildlife on a population scale. Creatures are adapted to all kinds of change. Certainly, there are individual animals that probably were injured or killed — that’s just the nature of things. But on a population scale, no significant impacts.”
As a wildlife biologist, Klemek views the storm as a net positive for nature. Animals like whitetail deer take advantage of new growth, which can be a good source of food. Other animals can easily use the downed trees for shelter. It can also provide a reset of sorts for the forest, allowing new growth to prosper.
Storms like the one Bemidji experienced are a lot like wildfires: devastating for humans and their properties, but a well-needed reset button for nature and forests.
“It creates diversity, and wildlife thrive on that kind of diversity,” he said. “Certainly, it’s sad to see old growth (like) red and white pines, big red oaks and burr oaks go down. But these, of course, are renewable resources, and they come back.”
Within the last year, the DNR has been busy doing salvage cutting, working with local loggers to do so. Even one year later, there is still plenty of evidence of the damage the storm did, especially in rural areas.
The DNR has been busy cleaning up fallen trees in certain areas, planting new ones along the way to increase diversity within the area.
Much of the cleanup comes on state forest land, which the DNR maintains. State forest land is littered with hunter walking trails for outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy. It’s been a priority for Klemek and his team to clean up those areas so hunters and hikers can enjoy the forest.
“Definitely after that storm, and even yet today, staff are working to clear those trails and get them back into tip-top shape for hunters and anybody that wants to walk a nice trail,” he added.
Not all areas need to be cleaned up, of course. Salvage cuts haven’t been done in wildlife management areas so nature can do its work.
“Frankly, it’s good for the soil,” Klemek said. “Timber that’s on the ground, it all returns to the soil. It creates logs. Of course, it creates habitat for all kinds of species. But if it’s a situation that is detrimental for public access, to hunt it and just enjoy a (wildlife management area), there’s some active management going on, too.”
Outside of clearing trails and accesses, the DNR doesn’t have much work left to do related to the storm, Klemek said.
What looked like a daunting task of clean up on the morning of June 21, 2025, has been accelerated by the hard work, thanks to significant efforts from volunteers and DNR staff members.
