Section Forest Resource Management Plan (NSU SFRMP)
SFRMPs, along with 10-year stand exam lists, are operational plans for achieving the DNR's strategic direction for forest resource management. They guide forest management activities on DNR-administered lands within each forested ecological section in Minnesota as the 10-year stand exam list is implemented.
The NSU SFRMP outlines the natural resource issues, planning process, management goals and directions, and implementation strategies for state-administered forest lands in the NSU Section. Within the Section, the SFRMP also identifies management opportunity areas, such as ruffed grouse management areas and old forest management complexes around old growth stands.
Plan Status
The DNR is currently developing the Northern Superior Uplands Section Forest Resource Management Plan (NSU SFRMP).
Work on this plan began in 2014 but was paused in 2016 to complete the DNR's Sustainable Timber Harvest Analysis (STHA). The DNR resumed planning for the NSU SFRMP in 2018, following the DNR's determination of updated strategic forest management direction and the development of 10-year stand exam lists to implement the strategic direction.
The comment period for the draft plan was completed in August of 2022, and the plan is currently in review within the DNR. Once approved, the final plan documents will be available on this page.
Northern Superior Uplands Section information
The NSU Section covers approximately 6 million acres in northeastern Minnesota and includes approximately 634,775 acres of state-managed forest land for which the NSU SFRMP provides management guidance. The Section is comprised of five subsections: the Border Lakes, Laurentian Uplands, Nashwauk Uplands, North Shore Highlands, and Toimi Uplands. The NSU landscape is characterized by glacially scoured bedrock terrain with thin and discontinuous deposits of coarse loamy till and numerous lakes. The forest ecosystems within this ecological Section are predominantly characterized by aspen, birch, and conifer forests.
The NSU SFRMP's preliminary assessment (completed in 2015) provides background information on the planning area's dominant canopy trees, land ownership, and administration, forest health status, wildlife species, and ecological resources. Note that this document was developed before the DNR's current strategic forest management direction and 10-year stand exam lists were completed. Some information related to the planning process in this document is outdated.
Direct comments or questions about this plan to: [email protected]