Pine River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy Report

The Pine River Watershed (the Pine) consists of approximately 501,000 acres (783 square miles) of mostly forests, wetlands, and lakes, and increasing residential development. It is located in the center of the northern half of the Upper Mississippi Basin. The major communities in the Pine include Breezy Point, Crosslake, Fifty Lakes, Pine River, Manhattan Beach, Emily, Jenkins, and Chickamaw Beach. Major Lakes include The Whitefish Chain of Lakes, Pelican Lake, Lake Emily, Roosevelt, and Pine Mountain. Counties in the Pine include parts of Crow Wing, Cass, Aitkin and Hubbard (Figure 1). The Pine has over 500 miles of rivers and streams, and over 400 lakes of 10 acres or larger. The quality of surface waters in the Pine is largely very good, and the Pine River Watershed is a popular tourist and vacation destination for people from all over the United States for its water recreation, fishing, hunting, and general "up-north" feel. The strength of the Pine, and the reason for its high-value waters, is the large (49%) extent of forest cover, which provides erosion protection, rainfall infiltration, and nutrient absorption. All of these components contribute to a healthy water cycle, which science has shown is key to healthy waters. The Pine has high importance because water that leaves the Pine enters the Mississippi River, and thus contributes to drinking water supplies for communities downstream of the Pine, such as St. Cloud and the Twin Cities.