Replanting Our Nation's Forests

Hiawatha National Forest Forest Report

Forest Update The Hiawatha National Forest is tucked between three of the Great Lakes, covering 879,000 acres in the central and eastern portions of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The forest provides unique recreational and sightseeing experiences for visitors. It is characterized by rolling hills forested with northern hardwoods, white pine, and hemlock; flat land covered by red pine, jack pine and aspen; and large open and tree-covered wetlands. The Great Lakes and surrounding areas provide unique habitats for diverse wildlife species. This spring, Arbor Day Foundation partners and the U.S. Forest Service pooled resources together to plant 40,000 black spruce, white spruce, white pine, white cedar, and Hemlock trees along two important rivers in the Hiawatha National Forest. The planting took place throughout the month of May along the north branch of the North Pine River and also along the Brevort River near the north shore of Lake Michigan. Contracted crews worked within 500 feet of the two river channels, hand planting more than 110 acres. The 2010 replanting project is establishing long-lived native conifer species to restore riparian areas critical to natural cold-water fisheries on the Hiawatha National Forest. The trees will provide thermal insulation for the streams and help keep temperatures cool in summer. Thanks to the support of Arbor Day Foundation partners, these seedlings are also enabling the stream systems to recover in the long term and will continue to restore excellent conditions for many different aquatic species.

KEY ★ = Hiawatha National Forest