GEOGRAPHY

OF THE

UNITED STATES

& CANADA

By Brett Lucas

THE BOREAL FOREST

Setting the Boundaries

What states and provinces are part of the region?

Parts of AK, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories,

British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba,

Ontario, Québec, MN, WI, MI

What regions does it border?

North Pacific Coast, Rockies, Great Plains, Heartland,

French Canada, Atlantic Northeast, The Arctic

Overview

Forested

Small human presence, now or ever

Little agriculture

Coldest spots in North America

Physical Geography

Physical Setting

Difficult landscape

Little useable soil

Significantly altered by glaciers

Rocks and forests

Many lakes: deranged drainage

Difficult to cross

Frozen waterways much of the year

Voracious insects during brief summer

Pleistocene Glaciation

Canadian Shield

Hills in Labrador and Québec

Flat elsewhere

Many rivers, most drain into Hudson Bay

Forest interspersed with bare rock

Sedimentary Plains

Washed out from

Rockies and Canadian

Shield

Also heavily glaciated

in past

Much forest

Many large lakes

Yukon and Alaska

More complex

terrain than in Plains

Yukon Valley in

Alaska broad

lowland

Swamps

Present all over poorly drained land and frozen

ground underneath

Home to mosquitoes

Permafrost

Permafrost is soil at or below the freezing point of

water (0 °C or 32 °F) for two or more years.

“Discontinuous” – ground frozen in places but not

others

“Active layer” – top part that thaws out in the

summer

Hazardous to construction

Permafrost Damage

Climate

Very cold winters

Coldest spot in North America; Prospect Creek, AK (-

80oF)

Some summer thaw

Light precipitation, nut enough with little

evaporation

Snow around all winter

Climograph – Fairbanks, AK

Climograph – Duluth, MN

Climograph – Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Climate Comparison

Spokane

WA

Duluth

MN

Thomson

Manitoba

Fairbanks

AK

Jan Temp (F) 33 / 21 17 / -1 -3 / -23 0 / -19

Jul Temp (F) 82 / 54 73 / 57 73 / 46 73 / 52

Rainfall 16.5 in. 31 in. 20 in. 10 in.

Snowfall 49 in. 77 in. 73 in. 65 in

Natural vegetation: “Taiga” Forest

“World’s largest biome

Southern reaches: more permanent forest cover

(hardwoods and conifers)

Northern reaches: fewer trees, more open spaces,

more conifers

General grade: taller trees to south

Forest Cycle: Fire

Fire common in

region in

summer

Cause?

Leads to

regeneration

Forest Cycle: Fire

The Yukon River Valley

It is an ancient natural cycle of destruction, fertilization and regeneration

The forests of Black Spruce, which cover about 90 percent of the Yukon and Alaska, die after a fire, and are gradually replaced with Birch, Alder and Aspen, which grow much faster

After 1 to 2 centuries, the Spruce regains dominance

The black spruce doesn't actually burn; it remains standing, taking some 3 decades to rot in the dry, cold climate

Forest Cycle: Fire

Nutrients cycle

through biome

via fire

Around 0.5-

1% of forest

burns each

year

Fauna

Furry animals

Beaver, muskrat, otter

Larger mammals

Deer, Caribou, Moose

Birds

Summertime only

Population & Settlement

Native Settlement

Scattered around area

Greater concentration further south

Lived off caribou and fishing

Small numbers

Caucasian Settlement

Fur trappers: 1700’s-1800’s

Loggers and miners: 1800’s-1900’s

Never large numbers

Mostly settlement on southern fringes, gradually

moving north

Westward expansion as with rest of North America

Present Settlement

Small

Rural

Concentrations in few cities

Whitehorse has 80% of Yukon’s population

Little growth anywhere

Almost all Caucasian, First Nations, or Métis

Population Numbers

State/Province/

Metro Area

2000 (1,000’s) 1990 (1,000’s) Change

Duluth, MN 244 239 +1%

Thunder Bay, Ont. 125 130 -5%

Sudbury, Ont. 157 157 0%

Fairbanks, AK 30 31 -3%

Yukon Territory 30 32 -4%

Northwest Territories 41 39 +7%

US & Canada 312,600 276,700 +13%

Population Density – AK

Human & Economic Geography

Mining

Many minerals in isolated areas

Nickel, Iron, Gold, Cobalt, Copper, Zinc, Silver, Lead

Strewn about other places

Towns boom and bust with mining

Mining

Sudbury, Ontario

Nickel capital of the world

Iron (Mesabi) Range, MN

2/3 of US iron ore output

Forestry

Concentrate in southern

portions

Transportation network

(rail and road) better

Better quality forests

Seasonal pattern

Forests cut in fall/winter

Dragged to frozen river

in winter

Float to mills in spring

Fishing

Great Lakes

Michigan, Superior, Ontario, Huron, Erie

Great Slave Lake

Lake Winnipeg

Smaller lakes that can support industry

Fishing decreases somewhat in the north, where the

fish population is too low

Other Resources

Oil: Northern Alberta Tar Sands

Huge resource. Difficult to extract

Fur farming

Trapping in significant decline, fur farms on increase

Water resources

Hydroelectric dams (remember the James Bay Cree!)

Economic/Resource Outlook

Difficult economy

Mainstay of life is taking things from the land

Significant native presence and power

High birth rates

Net outflow of population

Transportation still difficult

Tourism

Limited

Mostly local populations

from regions to the south

“escaping to the north”

Upper Peninsula of

Michigan

Lake Superior

Voyageurs, MN

Algonquin Park (Toronto)

Voyageurs National Park

Rural Canadian Employment

Difficult to get doctors, teachers and other service

employees to work in northern Canada

Local population doesn't have training

More urban dwellers don’t want to move there

Result, more areas with high poverty rates and poor

service quality

Native Land Claims

Natives have had better luck here than in the rest of

the continent

Land never developed

Populations never displaced

Non-natives really don’t want to live here

Resources discovered underneath

“Nunavut” discussed in the “Arctic” Region

Duluth

250,000 people

Major Port, #1 in the

Great Lakes

#1 Ore in US

#5 Coal in US

Port is the source of

2,500 jobs

2,342 miles sailing to

the Atlantic Ocean

Thunder Bay

125,000 people

Canadian Port

furthest west on Lake

Superior

World’s largest grain

elevators

Fairbanks

Fairbanks is the

largest city in the

interior region of

Alaska

82,000 people in

the metro area

Tourist gateway to

the interior of

Alaska

Other Cities

Most cities grew up for some single purpose

Sault Ste. Marie MI/ON. – Transportation

Sudbury, Timmins, ON. – Mining

Ft. McMurray, AB – Oil

Whitehorse, YT; Yellowknife, NT – Government (territory

capitals)

Many heavily subsidized by government