Fire and Healthy Forests

About one-third of Minnesota is covered with forest, and these diverse woodlands, with over 50 species of native trees and many understory and forest-floor plants, provide shade, wildlife habitat, water purification, pollutant absorption, nutrient recycling, carbon dioxide absorption, recreation, and a forest products industry that contributes billions of dollars annually to the state's economy. They support wildlife including bears, wolves, moose, grouse, bobcats, pine marten, and migratory songbirds, as well as insects and microbes that sustain decomposition and nutrient cycling. Change is an integral part of forest health, and fire is a major force of that change. Although fire can be destructive, it also removes low-growing underbrush, opens the forest floor to sunlight, exposes mineral soils for new growth, helps control disease and insects, and provides nutrients for the soil. Over thousands of years, Minnesota's forest plants have adapted to fire, and low-level fires that occur with some frequency reduce fuel on the forest floor, lessening the impact of larger fires. Some trees, such as jack pine and black spruce, have cones that open after fires and thrive in ash and exposed soils, while plants such as fireweed quickly proliferate after a fire and cover the forest floor with flowers.

Pequot Lakes, Minnesota · United States