The forested area is rich in water but poor in topsoil. The glaciers of various Ice Ages, including the most recent Wisconsonian glaciation, scraped much of the forested area down to bare rock or sand. The result is a highly characteristic boreal forest ecosystem. History The Ottawa National Forest is home to several clans of the Ojibwa people who coexisted with the Forest's numerous rocky wetlands. They harvested many of the region's mammals, particularly beaver, for their pelts, and sold them to traders from Canada and the eastern United States, such as the traders of the American Fur Company. After the fur trade declined, the nation sold most of the forest in the 1854 Treaty of La Pointe. A part of the nation used some of the proceeds from their fur trapping to purchase lands around Lac Vieux Desert, where their descendants remain today as the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. As a result of the construction of the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway in 1892–1894, the forest was opened to logging. A few parcels of old-growth white pine and red pine remain. After the logging era ended, the heavily exploited forest was partly abandoned. The U.S. federal government established the Ottawa National Forest in 1931, but the forest did not reach its full size until after two large land purchases in 1933 and 1935. In 1935 the national forest reached its maximum size of 1,026,329 acres (4,105 km2). After some privatizations, the Forest reached its current 1.0 million acre (4,000 km2) extent. During the years after World War II, growing automobile tourism made it possible for a wider variety of people to visit the forest. Recreation Ottawa National Forest is used for fishing, canoeing, and lake kayaking. In winter, the Forest welcomes cross-country skiers and snowmobilers. The Ottawa National Forest contains three designated U.S. wilderness areas, managed as such by the Forest Service. They are McCormick Wilderness and the Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness near Kenton, Michigan, and the Sylvania Wilderness near Watersmeet, Michigan. The North Country Trail runs through the forest. Hikers can use the trail to access O Kun de Kun Falls. Ottawa Visitor Center Opened in 1971, the Ottawa Visitor Center offers interpretive programs and exhibits about the natural history and resources of the Forest. The center's mission is to guide visitors to safe, wise and caring use of the Forest. References External