Recreational activities in the multi-purpose forest include hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, hunting and trapping, animal watching, and horseback, ATV and snowmobile riding.

Other than trapping for the fur trade, little to no human development occurred and the area remained untouched until the end of the 18th century.

[5] This changed in 1805 due to the Napoleonic Wars and demand for lumber for England's navy and shipbuilding, resulting in a rapid growth of the logging industry in the Ottawa River basin.

To keep the lumber mills in Lemieux, Fournier, Lalonde, Proulx, Riceville, and St. Isidore operating, smaller trees were also harvested.

Additionally, in October 1897 the remaining vegetation was burned in a brush-clearing accident in the now-abandoned ghost town of Grant.

[3][5] To address the problems, a replanting project was initiated in the 1920s, spearheaded by Ferdinand Larose who was the agricultural representative for the Counties of Prescott and Russell.

In 1928, Larose persuaded the Russell County Council to purchase 490 hectares (1,200 acres) from private landowners for reforestation in the Bourget Desert, and that same year, the first 40 hectares (99 acres) were planted in red pine, with Leo Lapalm of Bourget as planting foreman.

These areas contain a large variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, fish, vascular plants and mushrooms.

The most common animals include deer, beavers, moose, turtles, butterflies and birds of prey.

[14] The following are the predominant tree species in Larose Forest:[10] The number of mammal species found in Larose Forest is 29, including big game animals moose (Alces alces), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and American black bear (Ursus americana).