Uses
The lake is home to the University of Minnesota's Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories campus, which offers summer courses and field research work year round. The campus was established in 1909 and is composed of cabins for the students and faculty, laboratories, classrooms, offices, a computer lab, and dining and recreational facilities. The campus also has WIFI in several buildings and within the cabins. The current head of the biological station is Dr. John Biesbor.
When it was founded the Lake Itasca region was able to boast that it was the juncture of the three great habitats of North America. The Great Plains, the Deciduous Forest of the south, and the Coniferous Forest of the north. To this day, remnants of all three may be observed in the park.
Interestingly, the unique geography of the Lake Itasca region has even found its way onto the classical music concert stage. Composer Ferde Grofe depicted the birthplace of the Mississippi River and the Native Americans who reside there in his popular classical epic the Mississippi Suite.
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