Ecology and management of aspen: A lake states perspective

Aspen has been an ecologically important, though relatively minor, componen t of the Lake States (Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) forests for mille nnia. Ceneral Land Office records from the 1800s indicate that aspen compri sed a small fraction of the region's eastern forests, but was more extensiv e on the western edge. Then Euro-American settlement in the 1800s brought l and clearing, timber harvesting, and subsequent widespread wildfires that i ncreased aspen-birch acreages considerably. Although aspen-birch acreage ha s declined since the 1930s, it remains the region's second most prevalent f orest type. Aspen management is probably the most contentious issue confron ting forest managers in the Lake States.