The Clyde River and its wetlands form one of the most diverse ecosystems in the Northeast, with a bog sedge-dominated landscape classified as an intermediate fen, a globally rare natural community. The river was a major Native American travel corridor and a refuge for Abenakis who remained neutral during the French and Indian War. Settler accounts suggest that a lake filled this valley in the 1700s. The wetlands support swamp rose among floating peat mats dominated by sweet gale, three kinds of carnivorous plants—bladderworts, pitcher plant, and sundew—that capture insects to supplement the poor nutrition of the soil, and a wide variety of wildlife, including more than 127 bird species as inventoried by the NorthWoods Stewardship Center, along with green frogs, American toads, spring peepers, and northern leopard frogs.