Keeley Creek Natural Area is a natural area that is protected by the United States Department of Agriculture

United States Department of Agriculture

The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

, specifically through the branch of the Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

. It was established in 1942 and consists of 640 acres (2.6 km²) of land. It is located in Stony River Township, in Lake County, Minnesota

Lake County, Minnesota

Lake County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 10,866. Its county seat is Two Harbors. Lake County was founded on February 20, 1855, as Superior County, though its name was changed on March 3, of that year to St. Louis County. On March 1, 1856, St...

 and is part of the Superior National Forest

Superior National Forest

Superior National Forest, part of the United States National Forest system, is located in the Arrowhead Region of the state of Minnesota between the Canada – United States border and the north shore of Lake Superior...

.

Ecology

Keeley Creek is a forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

ed area that consists mainly of native fir

Fir

Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...

 trees including mostly Jackpine

Jack Pine

Jack pine is a North American pine with its native range in Canada east of the Rocky Mountains from Northwest Territories to Nova Scotia, and the northeast of the United States from Minnesota to Maine, with the southernmost part of the range just into northwest Indiana...

 and Black Spruce

Black Spruce

Picea mariana is a species of spruce native to northern North America, from Newfoundland west to Alaska, and south to northern New York, Minnesota and central British Columbia...

. White-tailed deer, snowshoe rabbit, and ruffed grouse are common in the area.

Designation as National Natural Landmark

In February 1980 the United States Secretary of the Interior

United States Secretary of the Interior

The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...

 designated Keeley Creek Natural Area as a National Natural Landmark

National Natural Landmark

The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...

 under the Historic Sites Act

Historic Sites Act

The Historic Sites Act of 1935 was enacted by the United States Congress largely to organize the myriad federally-own parks, monuments, and historic sites under the National Park Service and the United States Secretary of the Interior...

. This designation recognizes the area as an outstanding example of the United States' natural history. The National Park Service describes the area as "a large tract of undisturbed mixed pine and black spruce forest with rare mature jackpine stands and significant upland bogs".