Master Gardeners launch tree replanting at Beltrami County Fairgrounds
Beltrami County Master Gardeners started a fairgrounds replanting push after last summer’s 120 mph storm tore through southern Beltrami County and damaged millions of trees.
New trees are going into the Beltrami County Fairgrounds to replace canopy lost when a June 21, 2025 microburst and windstorm tore through southern Beltrami County, leaving a reported 10-mile path of devastation and damaging or destroying an estimated 9 million trees. County and media reports said straight-line winds exceeded 120 mph, and the landscape changed almost overnight.
The Beltrami County Master Gardener Volunteer Program is sponsoring the replanting effort and has set a plan to put 65 climate-ready trees in the fairgrounds, representing 20 different varieties. Educational signage will be installed at each tree so visitors can learn the characteristics of the plantings and see how reforestation is being adapted to a changing climate.
The project is designed to do more than restore appearance. The Master Gardeners say the new trees will improve the fairgrounds for events by bringing back shade, strengthening the grounds for long-term use and helping rebuild a tree canopy that was heavily damaged across the county. The program is seeking $1,000 to cover the initial cost of the trees, and volunteers will donate their expertise and time to make sure the trees are planted correctly and cared for after they go in the ground.
The fairgrounds work also builds on an existing local partnership. Beltrami County Master Gardeners previously worked with the Beltrami Soil and Water Conservation District on pollinator plantings at the same site, giving the new replanting effort a practical precedent on the fairgrounds itself.
The county’s Master Gardener program is part of the University of Minnesota Extension network, which began in 1977 with a first class of 25 people. It now includes more than 3,100 active Master Gardener volunteers statewide, and the extension program says the work is centered on sharing research-based horticultural knowledge through community volunteer projects. At the fairgrounds, that mission is now visible in a more immediate way: fewer empty spaces, more shade for visitors and a long-term rebuild of one of Beltrami County’s most-used public grounds.
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