Zonder titel

Birk's boyhood home of Pine River was surrounded by remnants of the "golden era" of Minnesota's logging industry from the turn of the twentieth century. As a teenager Birk spent much of his free time speaking to elders in his community and tracing the routes of abandoned industrial railroads through nearby forests. This project continued as a semi-hobby throughout his career. In 2009 Birk began collaborating with colleague Jeremy Jackson on a two-volume book series that would publicize the results of his decades of research, a project left unfinished at the time of Birk's death.