47% forested*

Wisconsin has an estimated 16,943,543 acres of forest land. * Percent forest is forest area/total area. Percent forest with water removed from total area is 49%.

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic

metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest

resources in Wisconsin. This information is based on field

data collected using the USDA Forest Service Forest

Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annualized sample design, and

it is updated yearly.

Area of forest land

(million acres)

Number of live trees

on forest land

(billion trees)

Volume of live trees

on forest land

(billion cubic feet)

2015

Federal

9.60%

17.07

16.94

State and

11.44 Local

11.68 20.64%

25.36

26.67

2020

Private

69.77%

Forest land ownership

Annual Net Change 356

Annual Removals 322

Annual Mortality 318

Annual Gross Growth 997

All live (million cubic feet)

48,492 acres of nonforest

revert back to forest annually*

63,291 acres of forest land

convert annually* to nonforest

288,731 acres of forest land

are treated by cutting

(harvest, thinning, etc.) annually*

Wisconsin has 11,633 sample plots across the State, of

which 6,360 are currently forested. Each year, about 10-20

percent of these plots are visited and measured by field

crews. Data used in this update were accessed from the FIA

database on 06/02/2022.

6,697 acres of forest land

are disturbed annually* by fire

44,709 acres of forest land

are disturbed annually* by weather events

USDA Forest Service - Forest Inventory & Analysis

The estimates presented are based on data retrieved from the FIA database (06/02/2022) and may not reflect the most recent data available from the FIA

program. Note – this publication does not include estimates of uncertainty. The most current data and sampling error for the estimates above can be

found by visiting https://www.fia.fs.usda.gov/.

*Average annual estimates are based on data collected across 5-10 years and may not be indicative of the nominal year presented in the title by itself.

Forests of

Wisconsin, 2020
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

How to cite this publication

USDA Forest Service. 2021. Forests of Wisconsin, 2020. Resource Update FS-328. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service. 2p. https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-328 .

Archived Versions

This report and archived past versions can be found on the USDA Forest Service publication database, Treesearch using keywords "Forest

Inventory" and "Wisconsin" here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/.

National Woodland Owner Survey

The National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) collects and reports on multiple attributes of forest land ownership. Details of the NWOS program can

be found here: https://www.fia.fs.usda.gov/nwos/.

The most recent NWOS Factsheet for Wisconsin can be found here: https://www.nrs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/52401/.

Additional Resources

The application that produced this resource update was developed using data from the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis database

(FIADB): https://apps.fs.usda.gov/fia/datamart/datamart_excel.html .

Tables for Wisconsin, 2020 can be found here: https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-328-Tables

The FIA one-click application can be found here: https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2

Bechtold, W.A.; Patterson, P.L., eds. 2005. The enhanced Forest Inventory and Analysis program—national sampling design and estimation procedures.

Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–80. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 85 p.

https://doi.org/10.2737/SRS-GTR-80 .

NOTE: Some of the above links will not be active until the resource update has been approved for official publication.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Forests of

Wisconsin, 2020