Michigan’s Threatened National Forests
By Traci Raymond
The Hiawatha, Huron–Manistee, and Ottawa National Forests have been listed as Threatened in the National Forest Protection Alliance’s new report; America’s Endangered National Forests: Legacy, Lumber or Landfill?
The report gives an on-the-ground look at some of the country’s most endangered National Forests, while providing an informative account of the important socio-economic benefits and uses that intact national forests provide. It also analyzes the market pressure to log national forests and demonstrates how consumers may ultimately decide the fate of our remaining wild lands.
Michigan’s three national forests span from the pine lands and hardwood forests of the Huron-Manistee in Central Michigan to the northern hardwoods forest of the Hiawatha and the Ottawa in the Upper Peninsula. These lands border three Great Lakes and are laced with lakes, rivers and streams, representing some of the Midwest’s most biologically diverse lands. The region supports a host of rare and endangered plants, and habitat wild enough to harbor Timber Wolf, Moose, Black Bear, Canada Lynx, Fisher, Kirtland’s Warbler, and Pine Marten.
One hundred years removed from clearcutting that laid bare 50 million acres of Great Lakes forest, logging is once again the dominant extractive activity in Michigan’s National Forests. With the annual cut averaging over 170 million board feet for Michigan’s three National Forests, Michigan is one of the highest producers of lumber east of the Mississippi.
Natural gas pipelines and drilling in the Huron-Manistee have degraded and fragmented large areas. In the Upper Peninsula, the potential for metallic sulfide mining of copper, zinc, gold, silver, and other minerals is a threat to Lakes Superior and Michigan and connecting waterways in the Ottawa and western Upper Peninsula.
These activities greatly threaten Michigan’s Wild & Scenic Rivers, its few remaining roadless areas, particularly the Trap Hills, and conflicts with tourism.
The 2.8 million acres of Michigan’s National Forests are intertwined with other publicly-owned lands, including the nearly 60,000 acre Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, the 75,000 acre Picture Rocks National Lakeshore, the 100,000 acre Seney National Wildlife Refuge, the 55,000 acre Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and 4.6 million acres of State Forests. This wildlands complex harbors amazing wetlands, multiple forest types, and is a rich repository of biodiversity.
In the lower peninsula’s Huron-Manistee, pine flats support the endangered Kirtland’s Warbler, a species dependent on wildfires in Jack Pine forests. The unique Great Lakes coastlines, as well as those in the Hiawatha National Forest, provide habitat for many rare plants, such as Dwarf Lake Iris, Houghton’s Golden Rod, and Hill's Thistle.
The Hiawatha and Ottawa are located in a transition zone between the northern hardwoods and boreal forests. Boreal forests of stunted Black Spruce and Tamarack occur in bogs and wetlands near Lake Superior, while Aspen-dominated lake clay plains contain conifers such as Balsam Fir, White Spruce, and Northern White Cedar. Upland forests contain hardwoods such as Sugar Maple, Red Oak, Yellow Birch, Basswood, and Beech. White and Red Pine stands, which were more dominant before the logging era, now occur only locally. Overall, conifers have declined significantly - particularly Eastern Hemlock and Cedar. Less then 2% of Michigan’s forests are original stands and a considerable proportion of these forests are found in the Ottawa’s McCormick and Sylvania Wilderness Areas.
Aquatic and wetland habitats abound throughout Michigan. These National Forests contain major headwaters flowing into the Great Lakes,and west to the Mississippi River system. Anglers and canoeists have long recognized the value of the countless lakes,streams, and rivers of these forests, including Michigan’s 16 Wild and Scenic Rivers.
Through our Forest Watch program, Northwoods Wilderness Recovery is committed to monitoring the management of Michigan’s three National Forests.