 Second-growth trees found within the Mackinaw State Forest include the alder, aspen, paper birch, yellow birch, hophornbeam, sugar maple, balsam poplar, willow, balsam fir, hemlock, larch, jack pine, black spruce, white spruce, and northern whitecedar.The forest is managed today for second-growth logging, recreation, and tourism purposes.Starting in 1918, the state stocked part of the forest with a herd of free-range elk ("Cervus canadensis").