Plants in Minnesota's National Forests
There are 62 plant species of concern on Minnesota's national forests - plants that are isolated and sliding toward listing on the endangered species list. Logging is changing the old forests these plants depend on into young thick forests without much biodiversity. Will we lose a part of our natural heritage with these rare plants?
The solution to this problem is to restore the types of forests these rare species live in. This should be the primary goal of forest management, to restore forest land closer to nature's design - the range of natural variation.
Proposed Forest Management Plan, Alternative E, would not restore habitat for these plants for fifty years. Will they survive under increased logging and development until then? We need to act more quickly to restore rare plant habitat. A quarter of these plants are different species of ferns that rely on Jack Pine/Black Spruce and Northern Hardwood Forest Types.
These forest types are diminished well below their RNV. Jack Pine forests on Chippewa will be maintained with prescribed fire under the proposed plan. But the plan will increase logging, including in jack pine and lowland conifer (black spruce) areas that shelter many rare plants.
Plants in Jack Pine/Black Spruce Forest Type
| Fern | Status | Location |
| Ternate Grape Fern | threatened | 31 Minnesota sites, most located in the Chippewa NF |
| Moonwort Grape Fern | threatened | 2 of 9 MN occurrences in Superior National Forest |
| Pale Moonwort | unknown | 26 sites in National Forests counties |
Plants in Northern Hardwood Forest Type
| Fern | Status | Location |
| Triangle Grape Fern | threatened | 16 of 84 known occurrences are in Chippewa NF 3 populations in Superior NF |
| Goblin Fern | threatened | 7 plots in Chippewa NF |
| Least Grape Fern | special concern | 4 locations in Chippewa NF 4 in the Superior NF |