Conifer swamps and bogs were also found in depressions and along drainageways throughout. Wetland vegetation includes conifer bogs and swamps and open muskeg. Fire was important on the outwash plains and probably, to a lesser degree, on the moraines. Windthrow had the strongest impact on the moraines, especially on the exposed ridges of the Giants Range. Aspen, the most common tree species, is used for paper and waferboard.
Tourism is important, especially where lakes are numerous.
Historically, iron mining was an important industry, but it has decreased significantly in recent years. Inventory work is insufficient to determine which plant communities are well represented in this subsection. None identified to date. Accelerated timber harvest with resulting fragmentation, loss of mature forest, and simplification of forest communities.