Northwest Sands Landscape

Map showing the Northwest Sands Ecological Landscape

General Description

The Northwest Sands Ecological Landscape is a large glacial outwash system consisting of two major landforms: flat plains or terraces along glacial meltwater channels, and pitted or "collapsed" outwash plains containing kettle lakes. Soils are deep sands, low in organic material and nutrients.

Vegetation

Historic vegetation at the time of the General Land Office survey was dominantly jack pine and scrub oak forest and barrens. White and red pine forests were also a sizable component of the Ecological Landscape. Numerous barrens occurred in the southwest half of the Ecological Landscape, and a few large barrens within the northeast half. Most of the trees in the barrens were jack pine, but oak savannas also occurred in the south central part of the Ecological Landscape. Current vegetation is a mix of forest, agriculture, and grassland with some wetlands in the river valleys. Pine, aspen-birch and oak equally (27% each) dominate the forested area of the Ecological Landscape. The maple-basswood, spruce-fir, and lowland hardwood forest type groups occupy small percentages of the Ecological Landscape. Within the open lands, there is a relatively large proportion of grassland and shrubland, a small but locally significant amount of emergent/wet meadow and open water, and very little row-crop agriculture.

Hydrologic Features

Several hundred kettle lakes are found in the pitted outwash plain. The headwaters of the St. Croix-Namekagon and Brule River systems are located here among flat plains, sedge meadows, bog complexes, and major barrens. The overall pollution levels of watersheds, steams and lakes that have been ranked (6 out of 23) in the Northwest Sands Ecological Landscape are about average according to Wisconsin DNR. Groundwater conditions are among the least polluted and most vulnerable in the state for the 16 watersheds that have been ranked.

Land Use

The total land area of the Northwest Sands Ecological Landscape is approximately 1.2 million acres, of which 64% is classified as timberland. Of timberland within the Ecological Landscape, 49% is under public ownership, while 41% is owned by non-industrial, private landowners. The largest public landowners are the counties and municipalities (21%), followed by federal (12%) and state (5%) governments.

Socioeconomics

Socioeconomic data are summarized based on county-level approximations of the Ecological Landscape (referred to as a "region"). Economic data are available only on a political unit basis with counties as the smallest unit. The counties included in this socioeconomic region are Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, and Washburn ("Northwest Sands Region"). The Northwest Sands Region has a relatively low population density and an aging population. The population density of the region (20 persons/sq. mile) is about one-fifth that of the state as a whole (96 persons/sq. mile). It has the second lowest percentage of young people (<20 years), the third highest proportion of elderly (over 65) people and the second highest median age among the regions of the state. Overall the percentage of minorities is below average, with the exception of the Native American population. Economically, the counties of the Northwest Sands are somewhat depressed when compared with the rest of the state. Per capita income and average wage are third lowest and the rates of poverty and unemployment are third and fifth highest, respectively, among the regions. The retail, service, and government sectors are important employers in the region, though the facilities are located outside the Ecological Landscape in Superior. Hay production is relatively important in the region's agricultural sector. Forest products and dollar value of the processing industries are relatively small, comprising only 5% of the total regional dollar value of industrial output. Agriculture land sold and diverted to other uses resulted in a slightly higher percentage of agricultural land loss in the region than in the state as a whole.

More Information

To learn more about the Northwest Sands Ecological Landscape, see the Northwest Sands chapter [PDF 4295KB] from the Ecological Landscapes of Wisconsin Handbook.

For any questions regarding the maps presented on this site or the "DNR Ecological Landscapes of Wisconsin" handbook, please contact Jeff Schimpff at Jeff.Schimpff@wisconsin.gov. Suggested Citation for Handbook: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. In Prep. DRAFT Ecological Landscapes of Wisconsin. State of Wisconsin, Dept. of Nat. Resources, Handbook. 1805.1. Madison, WI.

Last Revised: Thursday February 08 2006