Nonprofit Preserves 2,000 Acres in Superior National Forest

TOFTE, Minn. (AP) -- More than 2,000 acres of private land deep in the heart of the Superior National Forest will remain undeveloped.

The nonprofit Nature Conservancy said it purchased the land this week from a retired forestry professor.

The land near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Cook County includes six wilderness lakes and 3 miles of trout streams. The land also includes hundreds of acres of untouched bogs and fens and old-growth pines.

The conservancy says the purchase ensures that the forest won't be fragmented or be divided up in a way that would cut off moose, wolves or any other animals from needed habitat.