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Big Fork State Forest

state forest in Koochiching and Itasca counties, Minnesota, United States

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ4905717 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Big Fork State Forest is a state forest located in Koochiching and Itasca counties, Minnesota. It is primarily managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The landscape has many moraines, lakes, and wetlands. The "Lost 40" and the largest red pine in the state of Minnesota are located within the forest.

Outdoor recreation activities include hiking, mountain biking, and cross-country skiing on provided trails, as well as backcountry camping, swimming, fishing.

There is boat, canoe, and kayak access to the Big Fork River which runs through a portion of the forest, with Class I, III, IV, and V rapids located downstream.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Big Fork State Forest” as state forest in Koochiching and Itasca counties, Minnesota, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fork, State and Forest.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current 103-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Fork, State and Forest providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Big Fork State Forest”, the useful work is to connect “state forest in Koochiching and Itasca counties, Minnesota, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4905717. Authority coordinates are 47.475, -93.563. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Big Fork State Forest”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Big Fork State Forest primary sources, Big Fork State Forest archive and Fork research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Big Fork State Forest”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Big Fork State Forest” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.