Black River State Forest is a state

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

located in the western half of

Jackson County, Wisconsin Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,145. Its county seat is Black River Falls. Jackson County was formed from Crawford County in 1853. It was named for President Andrew ...

near

Black River Falls , settlement_type = City , nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = Black River Falls Wisconsin Downtown2 WIS54.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Looking west at ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, U.S.A.. It is administered by the

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set policy ...

. The park has campsites, trails, and allows for hunting, ATV, and canoeing. It is at the edge of the

Driftless Area The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. Never covered by ice during the las ...

of Wisconsin, and is more rugged than what is found in the eastern half of the county. Black River State Forest Wisconsin Entrance Sign

Environmental management

Each year, around 1000 acres (4.05 km²) of forest in the park are used for

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

. Logs are harvested for regeneration of the forest via selective cutting. In 2015 and 2016,

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

were reintroduced into the park.

References

External links

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - Black River State Forest
Driftless Area Protected areas of Jackson County, Wisconsin Wisconsin state forests Protected areas established in 1957 1957 establishments in Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-protected-area-stub