Estimated Primary Forest Extents of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)

Here primary forest, also known as old-growth or virgin forest, is composed of forest communities that established following past disturbances such as wildfire or severe windstorms and not impacted by 19th and 20th century logging activities. This coverage depicts the best approximation of current primary forest with at least one overstory component of 120 years in age or greater (in 2015) that remains within the borders of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Embedded within the blocks of primary forest are patches of long-lived, fire-maintained red and white pine woodlands that are some of the most biologically rare community types in the Laurentian Mixed Forest Province of North America. The primary forest of the Boundary Waters wilderness offers unique visitor experiences, wildlife habitat, rare cultural features, and unmatched opportunities for the scientific study of forest processes. Because primary growth forests are of great scientific and social value, they warrant special management, particularly in regards to planned fire.