Great Lakes Northwoods

What Are the Northwoods? 

A dense blanket of green covers the northern parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Pine, maple and spruce trees spread wide branches that filter the sunlight and fill the air with an aromatic tang. Here and there, pockets of water gleam: thousands of glacial lakes carved out of the land during the last Ice Age. Spanning over 60 million acres, the Northwoods are home to moose, gray wolves, pine marten, black bears and over 200 species of migratory and resident birds, including migratory songbirds. They’re the headwaters for two of the world’s largest freshwater systems: the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. And they’re a key landscape for climate mitigation, soaking up carbon on a globally significant scale.

Additionally, climate change is forcing species to move to new territories—which means they need connected landscapes through which they can travel. The Northwoods contain some of the most resilient and connected lands in the central United States. This includes six National Forests; two National Parks, two National Lakeshores, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and more than 60,000 miles of streams and rivers.

A Call to Action

The Northwoods are the past and current homelands of the Anishinabewaki, Bdewakantuwan, Bodwewadmi (Potawatomi), Hoocak (Ho-Chunk), Myaamia, Ochethi Sakowin, Odawa, Omaeqnomenew-ahkew (Menominee), Sisseton and Wyandot tribes that have stewarded these lands for thousands of years. As European settlers pushed west, about 40% of the Northwoods were cleared for farming and never grew back as forest. In the remaining forest, large-scale logging operations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries dramatically changed the landscape. For example, the amount of old growth forest was vastly reduced (complex, diverse forests generally greater than 120 years old). In Minnesota, prior to European settlement, more than 50% of the forest was old growth, but now that number is less than 6%. Old-growth hemlock forests were once a dominant forest type in Wisconsin and Michigan, but they have been reduced to less than a tenth of 1% of their original extent.

Parts of the Northwoods are still recovering from past harvesting and many forests are of a similar age and lack complexity and diverse structure. The forests also face continued development pressure, conversion to agriculture and other uses, over-browsing from an abundance of white-tailed deer, pests and pathogens, invasive species and increased stress from the impacts of a rapidly changing climate—all of which make their recovery challenging.

But there is hope. Large portions of the Northwoods are recovering, thanks to protection of forest lands and the adoption of sustainable timber harvest practices. As the forest ages and expands into areas that were once cleared for farmland, the animals that depend on this habitat are returning also.

Ecosystem recovery does not happen easily or quickly. As climate change amplifies the stresses on these forests and the species that live there, we must continue to innovate and seek creative ways to restore and protect the Northwoods. TNC’s efforts will help us reach our 2030 Goals for conservation.

We also work with government entities to improve management of public lands, through stewardship agreements that direct revenue from timber back into forest management, and we partner with Indigenous Tribes on forest management. In 2004, we helped rematriate nearly 25,000 acres of industrial forest lands to the care of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. We continue to work closely with the tribe to manage and help restore the forest.

Contact Matt Dallman, deputy state director for Wisconsin and our lead on Northwoods work in that state.

Michigan’s forests support nearly one million jobs and a $20-billion forest economy. Sustainable forest products are an important part of this economy that support local jobs and keep forests on the land. In 2022, TNC partnered with the Michigan Forest Biomaterials Institute to produce the interactive resource A Great Future Ahead with Michigan’s Forest Biomaterials, about the prospects for a booming bioeconomy in the state. TNC also works extensively with partners to support forest restoration far beyond the lands we manage. For example, we work with the U.S. Forest Service to help restore wetlands and stream corridors in Michigan's national forests, by planting trees in areas threatened by forest pests. We also help keep the U.P.'s thousands of miles of rivers healthy by improving stream crossings and restoring connectivity. 

Contact Emily Clegg, director of land and water management in Michigan with questions about our Northwoods work in that state. 

Strategies to Protect and Restore the Northwoods 

TNC and partners are working on multiple fronts to protect and continually restore this critically important landscape. The strategies used include working to keep the land forested, managing the forests by encouraging a healthy diversity of tree ages and species, bringing back beneficial fire and helping to maintain a sustainable and healthy forest products industry. 

Land Protection 

We protect land by purchasing it directly, obtaining conservation easements that keep the land forested in perpetuity, and working collaboratively with partners to improve protection and restoration of their lands. Our partners include communities, Indigenous Peoples, government agencies and landowners.

TNC and partners use a variety of protection tools to conserve and restore the Northwoods. Click on the headers below to read more. 

Better Forest Management 

A healthy forest includes diverse tree species and a range of trees of different ages in a connected landscape that provides access to a variety of habitats. It takes active intervention to achieve this diversity in recovering forests, but the result is worth the effort. More complex forests can support more species and are more resilient to environmental stresses, including climate change effects. Songbirds, bats, many other wildlife species and many plants benefit from a diversified forest.

One way to promote diversity is through sustainable timber operations that utilize the latest climate science to guide management. We know the forests of the future will look different from how they looked in the past. Across the Northwoods, TNC has worked with partners from the U.S. Forest Service to develop climate change field guides that will assist managers as they develop forest harvest methods that increase forests’ resilience to change. Utilizing climate-smart forestry will ensure that our forests are composed of young and old trees and include a diverse mix of species that will be better adapted to the future climate and more able to sequester carbon.

Another piece of the puzzle is bringing back fire to the Northwoods. The region includes fire-dependent ecosystems that have not burned for centuries. Periodic fire maintains the health and diversity of the forest, keeps species in balance, gives native species an edge over invasives and returns nutrients to the soil. There is a great need for more trained fire professionals and funding for this type of work.

TNC is also looking for ways to maintain a sustainable and healthy forest products market. A strong market for forest products like timber, furniture, decorative wood, paper and other commodities will provide an economic reason for landowners to keep their forests as forests rather than converting the land to other uses, such as agriculture.

The Future of the Northwoods

The Northwoods are a potential powerhouse for the climate, offering natural climate solutions on a globally significant scale, as well as supporting biodiversity, clean water, jobs and recreational opportunities. TNC has been active in Northwoods conservation for decades, working with our partners to protect and restore this special landscape. We’ve achieved landmark successes like the return of nearly 25,000 acres of industrial forest lands in Wisconsin to the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Big U.P. Deal that protected more than 270,000 acres of Michigan forests.

But there is much more to do. By investing now in caring for this landscape, we can ensure that the Northwoods will be around for generations to come.