Uncas Dunes SNA

This SNA is located within Sand Dunes State Forest in Sherburne County. It takes its name from the Uncas skipper, a member of the "banded skippers" (subfamily Hesperiinae) listed as an endangered species in Minnesota. Small and fast, this butterfly has a shape that's been compared to a fighter jet.

Two Rivers Aspen Parkland SNA

"Two Rivers" is a reference to the Two Rivers River, a tributary of the Red River which—despite its name—has not two but three branches. This vast, 1400-acre SNA lies within a bend of the river's South Branch in Roseau County.

This SNA protects a landscape-sized aspen parkland remnant, with extensive areas of wet and wet-mesic brush prairie, shrubby wet meadow and aspen woodland. Subtle "swell and swale" topography runs north-northwest across the area from a prominent Lake Agassiz beach ridge located near the southern margin of the site along Minnesota Highway 11.

Pembina Trail SNA

Pembina Trail SNA is notable in its own right, but also for being part of a landscape-scale tallgrass prairie initiative in Polk County that includes Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge and over half a dozen nearby Wildlife Management Areas. The SNA takes its name from its proximity to Pembina Trail (also sometimes called the Woods Trail), one of the routes used in the mid-1800s to haul trade goods by ox-cart between the northwest prairies of the Red River Valley and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Lake Alexander Woods SNA

Classic "kettle and knob" topography is a striking feature of this Central Minnesota SNA. The land rises and dips, courtesy of the Rainy glacial lobe. Upland forests are dominated by mature oak, large-toothed aspen and birch. Lowlands are occupied by lakes, sedge meadows, marshes, swamps and fens.

Kasota Prairie SNA

Situated on an extensive rock terrace 70 feet above the Minnesota River Valley, the Kasota Prairie is named for its view, the word kasota from the Dakota language meaning "a cleared place." When the Glacial River Warren originally carved the Minnesota River valley, the flooded river covered this terrace. Today, prairie, wet meadow, oak woodland, and lowland hardwood plant communities thrive in the thin soils, only 12 inches deep here.

Itasca Wilderness Sanctuary SNA

The Itasca Wilderness Sanctuary holds an important place in Minnesota's conservation history. It was established in 1939 within Itasca State Park at the suggestion of the Minnesota Academy of Science, to preserve a part of the wilderness character of the state that existed prior to logging and settlement. In 1965, it became Minnesota's first National Natural Landmark. Most of the Sanctuary (1601 acres) was designated a state Scientific and Natural Area in 1983, as the finest example of Great Lakes Pine Forest in north-central Minnesota.

Cedar Mountain SNA

Cedar Mountain SNA is one of a string of SNAs aligned along the meandering Minnesota River in Yellow Medicine, Renville and Redwood Counties. While each is unique, they share a common history, influenced both by the Des Moines lobe of the most recent glacial period and the subsequent torrent of Glacial River Warren.