Managed Acreage
The Leech Lake Indian Reservation contains 864,158 acres, including parts of Beltrami, Cass, Hubbard, and Itasca Couties. The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe has a membership of the reservation is approximately 12,000. It is located in north cetral Minnesota in the Central Pine Hardwoods forest eco-region, a zone of transition between boreal (conifer) forest and deciduous (hardwood) forest. The reservation also reflects characteristics of the tall grass prairie region that begins less than 60 miles to the west. Within the reservation land base there are various landholders, including the following with their acreages:
- US Forest Service 285,824
- Beltrami County 3,265
- Cass County 18,170
- Hubbard County 2,107
- Itasca County 7,441
- State of Minnesota 146,061
- Indian lands 29,717
- Other ownership 130,836
Reservation lands are further split into tribal, band, and allotted lands. Tribal lands are those trust lands owned by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe; Band lands owned by the Leech Lake Band, and allotted lands are those lands held in trust for individual Indians and their heirs. Of the 29,717 acres of Indian lands, the breakout is as follows:
- Tribal land 13,545
- Allotments 12,509
- Band land 3,663
- Total trust lands 29,717
Approximately half of the Leech Lake Reservation is covered by water, including 270 named fishable lakes totaling 300,000 acres, as well as 162,591 acres of wetlands, forest ponds, ephemeral pools, and 269 miles of rivers and streams. The bulk of the reservation's water is drained by the headwaters of the Mississippi River , eventually emptying into the Gulf of Mexico . The northeastern part, however, lies east of the Laurentian Divide and drains northward into Canada and Hudson Bay .