Northern Lakes and Forests (ecoregion)

Northern Lakes and Forests
Map of Level III ecoregions in the United States, with Northern Lakes and Forests shown as number 50
Ecology
Realm	Nearctic
Geography
Country	United States
States	Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin

The Northern Lakes and Forests are an ecoregion in northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and northern Michigan in the United States. It is a Level III ecoregion in the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) classification system, where it is designated as ecoregion number 50. The ecoregion is characterized by coniferous and northern hardwoods forests, morainal hills, large lake basins, and broad areas of sandy outwash plains, with numerous lakes and wetlands. The Northern Lakes and Forests are less well-suited to agriculture than ecoregions to the south, owing to shorter growing seasons, lower temperatures, and soils formed mainly from nutrient-poor sandy and loamy glacial drift material.

Following is a list of smaller Level IV ecoregions within the Northern Lakes and Forests ecoregion, as defined by the EPA.

Ontonagon Lobe Moraines and Gogebic Iron Range