The area was originally part of a 2,400-acre tract of land owned by Edward Estivant of Paris, who sold it to Calumet and Hecla Mining Company in 1947.

A fund-raising campaign by the Michigan Nature Association lead in 1973 to the purchase of 200 acres from Universal Oil.

[1] The Sanctuary includes some white pines growing more than 125 feet tall and dating back over 300 years, having established after a fire in about 1695.

[1] The forest predominantly consists of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea), with the white pines appearing as emergent stems above the maple/fir canopy.

There are a few understory white pine saplings, but these face competition with many other tree species before they can enter the canopy; it remains to be seen whether gap dynamics will allow this to occur.