Little Pine Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Little Pine Lake pulls an A: clarity at 24.6 ft and 13 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Trophically, Little Pine Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. Little Pine Lake reaches 32 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. Little Pine Lake is small — 18 acres alongside partial shoreline records — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Little Pine Lake sits at rank 19 of 34 in Iron County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Little Pine Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2022, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Little Pine Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. Monitoring depth is thin here: the LakeGrade rubric is applied to a small number of sample years, and the grade will be revised as more data accumulates.