The "LINCOLN" unit of the Nursery had its beginning in the early 1930's as the Mandan Nursery under the supervision of the Bureau of Plant Industry. It was both a production nursery and a plant testing facility. In 1935 it was transferred to the Soil Erosion Service. One month later, the agency's name was changed to the Soil Conservation Service. The Mandan Nursery was moved to an area between Bismarck and Mandan and called the Heart River Nursery. The Soil Conservation Service moved it to its present location - on the parade grounds of the Fort Lincoln Military Post. In 1953 the Department of Agriculture discontinued all Soil Conservation Service nurseries and the North Dakota Association of Soil Conservation Districts agreed to assume the operation of the 355 acre Fort Lincoln unit south of Bismarck, North Dakota.