CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT: FORESTRY DIVISION:

Biographical Sketch

Jacob (Jake) Nikolas Licke was born January 28, 1910 in Wadena, Minnesota, the son of George and Katherine Trische Licke. He began his forestry service in 1929, as a patrolman for the Minnesota Forestry Division, working out of the Park Rapids office. In 1933, he became an agriculturalist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, headquartered in Walker, Minnesota. From 1933-1939 he served in the department's Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine's Plant Industry Section, and from 1939-1954, in its Agricultural Research Service. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service from 1954 to 1965.

Through 1962 Licke served as a district leader in the white pine blister rust control program, and from 1963 through 1965 he was state leader.

Licke served as executive officer of the city of Walker in 1965-1966 and on the Minnesota Land Exchange Review Board from 1968 through 1973. He was also active in the Society of American Foresters, Minnesota Forestry Employees Association, Izaak Walton League, Boy Scouts of America, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Cass County Historical Society, Walker Wildlife Museum, Walker Businessmen's Association, Walker Rotary, and Community Church of Walker.

Historical Sketch: White Pine Blister Rust Control Program

White pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola Fisher) is a parasitic fungus that kills white pines. The disease does not spread directly from pine to pine but must spend part of its life cycle on the leaves of wild or cultivated currants or gooseberries (ribes).

Work on studying and controlling blister rust began in Minnesota in 1916. In 1929 a law was passed declaring blister rust to be a dangerous forest pest in all its stages and giving the Commissioner of Forestry and Fire Prevention the power to enforce the act [Laws 1929 c218]. It declared any infected white pines or ribes within the state to be a public menace and allowed for the destruction of any diseased plants and any and all wild ribes by order of the commissioner or his agents. Any ribes or white pines not infected could also be destroyed when necessary. The commissioner was to promulgate information about ribes and designate ribes control areas, in which all landowners were to carry out control measures as ordered, including the removal and destruction of all wild and cultivated ribes or white pines. No ribes could be planted within the designated areas without written permission of the commissioner. The commissioner or his agents could enter upon any private or public lands to carry out control measures if a landowner did not destroy the plants as ordered. All expenses incurred were placed as a lien against the owner's land.

Upon establishment of the state Conservation Department in 1931 [Laws 1931 c186] all blister rust control authority passed to its commissioner, who assigned it to the department's Forestry Division. During the 1930s the blister rust control program operated as a combined effort of the Blister Rust Control Office, staffed by the Forestry Division and the federal Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, and the state's ECW (Emergency Conservation Work), a joint effort of the Forestry Division and the U.S. Forest Service's Division of State Cooperation. Workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Administration, and Work Projects Administration were used in the control and eradication efforts.

On April 26, 1940 the U.S. Congress passed the Lea Act [Public Law No. 486-54, Stat. 168, 169] which provided for unified and coordinated blister rust control activities. The Secretary of Agriculture was authorized to control white pine blister rust by eliminating it from and preventing its spread to all forest lands irrespective of ownership. Administrative responsibility for control activities was centralized in the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. It operated out of five regional field headquarters and in close cooperation with the authorized representatives of cooperating federal, state, local and private agencies. Minnesota was included in the North Central Region.

In 1953 all powers and duties relating to the control of white pine blister rust in Minnesota were transferred to the State Commissioner of Agriculture [Laws 1953 c 711].

Written by: Cheri Thies, December 1995

Return to top

During 1929-1965 Licke was employed by the Minnesota Department of Forestry (1929-1933), U.S. Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine (1933-1939), U.S. Agricultural Research Service (1939-1954), and U.S. Forest Service (1954-1965). The records include field maps, infestation reports, narrative case histories, and statistics for areas in Cook, Koochiching, St. Louis, Carlton, Lake, Isanti, Pine, Kanabec, and Aitkin counties, Two Harbors, Gooseberry Falls State Park, and the Leech Lake, Red Lake, and White Earth reservations.

The records also contain historical materials (1929-1961); annual reports (1937, 1947-1949); photographs taken by Edwin E. Honey documenting infestations in Ramsey and Clearwater counties (1945) and a WPA eradication camp in Cook County (1939); project correspondence, detailing the work of Nett Lake Reservation workers, and release forms for eradication work done on private property (1936-1938); and eradication records, job reports, and studies (1933-1951).

Return to top

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Division of Forestry. White Pine Blister Rust Control Files of Jake Licke. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Provenance:

Originally part of the collections of the North Central Minnesota Historical Center, Bemidji, MN.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 995-27

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 990017317610104294

Return to top

Conservation Department. Forestry Division. Photographs and papers of Lawrence B. Ritter (cataloged separately).

Return to top

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Blister rust -- Photographs.

Blister rust -- Minnesota -- Surveys.

Forestry law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Forests and forestry -- Minnesota.

Ribes -- Minnesota.

Trees -- Diseases and pests -- Minnesota -- Photographs.

White pine -- Diseases and pests -- Minnesota -- Photographs.

Persons:

Honey, Edwin E.

Licke, Jacob Nikolas, 1910-.

Ritter, Lawrence B.

Stewart, D. M.

Organizations:

Civilian Conservation Corps (U.S.). Minnesota District.

Minnesota. Department of Conservation.

United States. Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine.

United States. Forest Service

United States. Work Projects Administration.

Places:

Big John Lake (Cook County, Minn.) -- Photographs.

Gheen (Minn.).

Gooseberry Falls State Park (Minn.) -- Photographs.

Itasca State Park (Minn.) -- Photographs.

Leech Lake Indian Reservation (Minn.)

Nett Lake Indian Reservation (Minn.).

Red Lake Indian Reservation (Minn.)

Two Harbors (Minn.)

White Earth Indian Reservation (Minn.)

Document Types:

Photographs.

Return to top