Forestry and Logging

Commercial logging began in Wisconsin in the 1840's, and it quickly overtook the fur trade as the territory's main source of income. The white pine was the primary target of the lumbermen because it was light, soft and easily worked by carpenters. The logs were brought out of the woods by water, another reason for the preference of pine, which was light and floated easily. Green hardwoods, such as maple and birch, dragged on the gravelly bottoms of rivers or sank altogether. The fellers dropped the tree where it could most easily be worked. By the 1870's the two-man crosscut saw had replaced the ax, doubling the production of the felling crew. By the time of Jean Nicolet's "discovery" of Wisconsin in 1634 the state had become a verdant wilderness with great forests of stunning magnificence covering much of the land. An estimated thirty million of the state's thirty-five million acres of land bore stands of timber. Predominant among the trees in the northern regions was the majestic white pine, sometimes measuring at the stump as muchas 8 1/2 feet and reaching skyward as much as 250 feet. Other Wisconsin trees include cedar, fir, hemlock, pine, spruce, tamarack, ash, aspen, basswood, beech, birch, box elder, butternut, cherry, cottonwood, elm, hackberry, hickory, juneberry, locust, maple, oak, plum, walnut and willow Did you know that nearly half the state of Wisconsin is covered by trees? Wisconsin County Forests 2,341,789 acres in 29 counties, unique to the nation. Legislation which provided for the establishment of County Forests also mandated that these lands be open to the hunter, the camper, the hiker, and the bird watcher. With the exception of a few sensitive areas, there are no posted lands in our County Forests. There are more than 1200 campsites and thousands of miles of hiking, skiing, and snowmobile trails. Public access to hundreds of lakes and streams is available. Did you know that the Fox River Valley is home to the world's largest concentration of paper mills? Wisconsin's paper industry creates approximately 4.9 million tons of paper annually, employs more than 53,000 people, and is the number one paper producer in the United States. In 1998, Wisconsin celebrated its Sesquicentennial - 150 years of statehood. Also celebrating 150 years was Wisconsin's paper industry which began operations in Wisconsin three months before Wisconsin became a state. For more than 150 years, Wisconsin papermakers have used wood as a source of fiber to create paper products that are used around the world. They realize the importance of this resource and carefully manage and sustain it. Sustainable forestry is not only a priority for Wisconsin’s paper industry, it’s a way of life. Wisconsin papermakers created a new forestry stewardship program called the Green Guarantee and voluntarily utilize forestry Best Management Practices. For more information on Logging and Paper Making in Wisconsin: Wisconsin Paper Council Best Management Practices Wisconsin Logging