Laurentian Mixed Forest Province

With the abundant lakes and streams and regrowth of the forests, the region became a major tourist and recreation area for the larger population centers just to the south.

Early successional tree species such as aspen and birch became much more prevalent and replaced much of the mixed conifer and deciduous forests that originally existed prior to the logging era.

Major animal species inhabiting the forest include white-tailed deer, moose, porcupine, beaver, American red squirrel, eastern gray squirrel, chipmunk, opossum, raccoon, bobcat, Canada lynx, fisher, American marten, long-tailed weasel, ruffed grouse, spruce grouse, bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, osprey, common loon, mallard, Canada goose, wild turkey, sandhill crane, snowshoe hare, American black bear, coyote, and red fox.

Elk have been reintroduced in northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario after having been extirpated prior to the 20th century by overhunting and habitat loss.

The boreal woodland caribou used to inhabit the American portions of the region, but with the destruction of the original forest during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the resulting expansion of the white-tailed deer population (which carry the deadly Parelaphostrongylus tenuis brain worm parasite), the species is now confined to Canada.