Laurentian Mixed Forest Province

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The Laurentian Mixed Forest Province, also known as the Northwoods, is a forested region in eastern North America. It sits between the boreal forests to the north and the warmer forests to the south. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls it Northern Lakes and Forests, and the World Wildlife Fund places it in the Western Great Lakes forests and the eastern forest–boreal transition.

Where it is
- In the United States: northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan (including the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan), plus parts of New York’s North Country and New England.
- In Canada: Ontario around the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River, and into Quebec up to Quebec City.

What the land is like
Most of this region was sculpted by glaciers in the last ice age, creating many lakes and wetlands. Poor soils and a cool climate kept farming from taking hold, so forests grew back after being cleared in the 1800s and early 1900s. With lots of lakes, rivers, and regrown forests, the area became a popular place for tourism and outdoor recreation.

Plants and scenery
The region mixes broadleaf and conifer forests. Conifers include pines, spruces, firs, and junipers; broadleaf trees include aspens, paper birch, mountain ash, and maples. There are lakes, bogs, and swamps. Some people say the forest has a distinctive smell from sweet fern and balsam poplar.

Climate
The area generally has a humid continental climate with warm summers and cold, snowy winters (Köppen climate type Dfb). Plant hardiness is mainly in zones 3a–4b, with parts of New England reaching 5a.

Forests and trees over time
During the lumber era, heavy logging and fires destroyed much of the original forest. Later fire suppression and management created second-growth forests that are different from what used to be there, with fewer conifers and more aspen and birch.

Wildlife
Many animals live here, including white-tailed deer, moose, porcupine, beaver, red and gray squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, raccoons, bobcats, Canada lynx, fisher, American marten, weasels, ruffed grouse, spruce grouse, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, ospreys, loons, ducks, geese, wild turkeys, sandhill cranes, snowshoe hares, bears, coyotes, and red foxes. Gray wolves have been returning to the area from Minnesota and Ontario. Lone cougars are occasionally seen, but there’s little evidence of breeding populations. Elk have been reintroduced in northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario. Boreal woodland caribou used to live in the U.S. part of the region, but now are mostly found in Canada due to deer and brain worm issues.