The Sandilands Provincial Forest is a

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 within the southeastern area of

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...

, and consists of thousands of acres of sand hills,

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free ( anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

, and mostly unpopulated

crown lands Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

. Sandilands Provincial Forest covers close to 3,000 km². Under ''The Forest Act'', Provincial Forests were developed primarily as a source of sustainable

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

supply for forestry operations. The Sandilands area has been logged for decades, and it is popular amongst most for hiking, hunting, and camping. The large

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of ...

eskers and hills were left behind by the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

as the

glaciers A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

retreated and deposited large rocks,

boulders In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

, and vast amounts of sand. These sand ridges sometimes called the Bedford Hills or Cyprus Hills, are the second highest point in Manitoba, behind

Baldy Mountain There are a number of peaks named Baldy: Canada * Baldy Mountain (Manitoba), , * Big Baldy Mountain (Vancouver Island, British Columbia), United States Peaks named "Baldy" Peaks named "Baldy Mountain" ...

. Sandilands Provincial Forest is a mixed

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

‐

coniferous forest Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...

comprising dry sandy ridges of trembling aspen,

jack pine Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and n ...

, and white birch mixed with wetter

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of ...

s of black spruce,

tamarack ''Larix laricina'', commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and ...

, white cedar, and

black ash Black ash is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * ''Acer negundo'', native to North America * ''Fraxinus nigra ''Fraxinus nigra'', the black ash, is a species of ash native to much of eastern Canada and the northeastern United St ...

. In descending order of land area, the forest is located within the Rural Municipalities of Reynolds, Piney, and Stuartburn. The nearest incorporated places are Ste. Anne and Steinbach, both lying to the west. The southernmost points in the forest lie on the border with the state of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Within the forest is Marchand Provincial Park.

References

Forests of Manitoba {{Manitoba-geo-stub Eastman Region, Manitoba