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Boundary Lakes and Hills

Ecoregion in MN

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This ecoregion is well known for its many lakes and rivers and undisturbed landscape, providing innumerable canoe and kayak and camping recreation opportunities. Comprising a large area in northeastern Minnesota adjacent to a similar landscape in Ontario, the ecoregion is an extension of the Archaen and Proterozoic bedrocks of the Canadian Shield with scoured bedrock uplands covered by a thin layer of less developed forest Udept soils. The ecoregion has the highest single elevation in Minnesota (about 700 m) and a large area of high elevation in the eastern part of the ecoregion; the terrain is rolling to undulating with some steep slopes. The presettlement vegetation was jack pine, white and red pine, spruce, fir, birch and aspen forest. Mixed deciduous and evergreen forest and many lakes cover the ecoregion today. The ecoregion hosts Voyageurs National Park in the northwest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) over much of the rest of the northern half of the ecoregion. BWCAW covers about 36% of the ecoregion. Heinselman’s book (1966) has described the BWCAW in great detail: the history and current status of climate, fire, logging, and human culture, as well as that of the vegetation, fauna, landscape ecology, and the legislation covering the area. Fire was an important component of the structure of the BWCAW over time until logging and fire suppression began in the 20th Century. This ecoregion has the highest number of lakes among all Level IV regions. About 55% of this ecoregion was mixed, evergreen, and deciduous forest, 25% wetlands, 15% open water in 2013.

— EPA

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