North Central Forest Experiment Station

Forest Service - U.S. Department of Agriculture

1992 Folwell Avenue

St. Paul, Minnesota 55108

Published in 1996

Research Note

NC-370

Pulpwood Production

in the Lake States,

1995

Ronald J. Piva
Pulpwood Production in the Lake

States, 1995

Ronald J. Piva 1

ABSTRACT.—Pulpwood production in the Lake States decreased from 9.7 million cords in

1994 to 9.6 million in 1995. Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin pulpwood production is

shown by county and species group.

KEY WORDS: Residue, roundwood, whole tree chips, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin.

Pulpwood production2 in the Lake States—Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin—decreased to 9.6 million cords in 1995 from 9.7 million cords in 19943. Wisconsin produced 3.5

million cords, Michigan produced 3.1 million cords, and Minnesota produced 3.0 million

cords in 1995 (table 1). Ninety-two percent of the pulpwood produced came from roundwood

(including chips from roundwood); the remainder came from mill residues such as slabs,

edgings, veneer cores, and chips from these materials (fig. 1).

1

 RONALD J. PIVA is a Forester with the North Central Forest Experiment Station in St. Paul, Minnesota.

2

 Includes logs, bolts, and wood residue used in manufacturing particleboard, wafer board, oriented strand

board, hardboard, and medium density fiberboard. 3 Previous year’s data are from “Pulpwood Production in the Lake States, 1994,” Research Note NC-368, 1996.

0

In million cords (unpeeled)

2

4

6

8

10

Year

1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995

Roundwood

Residues

Figure 1.—Pulpwood production, Lake States, 1985-1995.

ROUNDWOOD

Roundwood production totaled 8.8 million cords; Michigan and Minnesota each produced

2.8 million cords and Wisconsin produced the remaining 3.1 million cords. Seventy-eight

percent of the harvested species were hardwoods. Aspen accounted for 49 percent of the total

production (4.3 million cords). The other major species groups were maple (1.2 million cords),

pine (1.2 million cords), spruce-fir (0.6 million cords), and birch (0.6 million cords) (fig. 2).
Figure 2.—Distribution of roundwood production by major species group, Lake States, 1995.

Counties harvesting more than 150 thousand cords each were Houghton, Iron, and

Marquette in Michigan; Beltrami, Cass, Itasca, Koochiching, and St. Louis in Minnesota; and

Bayfield, Douglas, Iron, Sawyer, and Vilas in Wisconsin. These 13 counties contributed 38

percent of the roundwood pulpwood produced in the Lake States in 1995.

In 1995, whole tree chips (WTC) supplied 564 thousand cords or 6 percent of the roundwood production, a 17-percent decrease from 1994. Michigan was the major WTC producer

with 340 thousand cords, followed by Wisconsin with 134 thousand cords, and Minnesota

with 90 thousand cords.

MILL RESIDUES

Pulpwood production from mill residues amounted to 804 thousand cords in 1995, a 6-

percent increase over 1994. Mill residue production increased by 15 percent in Michigan and

by 6 percent in Wisconsin, but decreased by 5 percent in Minnesota. Production from softwood and hardwood residues by State was:

State Softwood Hardwood

(Thousand standard cords,

unpeeled equivalents)

Michigan 90 188

Minnesota 64 97

Wisconsin 191 174

Other 

softwoods

2%

Oak

3%

Other 

hardwoods

5% Softwoods

Hardwoods

Pine

13%

Aspen

49%

Birch

7%

Maple

14%

Spruce-fir

7%

2
Tabel 1.--Lake States pulpwood production from roundwood by county and species group, 1995 1/

(In standard cords, unpeeled)

MINNESOTA

Species group

Unit and All N. white- Balsam Tama- Other

county 2/ species cedar fir Hemlock Pine Spruce rack Aspen Birch Maple Oak hardwoods

Aspen-Birch

Carlton 55,090 - 8,938 - 3,697 2,130 141 26,812 11,501 1,470 20 381

Cook 31,122 - 4,705 - 1,835 10,096 172 10,131 4,086 70 - 26

Koochiching 461,192 - 28,167 - 6,728 49,840 7,081 324,602 1,157 399 37 43,181

Lake 112,373 - 11,211 - 5,778 16,751 990 55,771 16,698 2,430 4 2,740

St Louis 602,842 - 66,029 - 22,179 39,271 2,192 413,845 31,422 4,771 - 23,133

 Total 1,262,618 - 119,051 - 40,219 118,088 10,575 831,161 64,862 9,141 61 69,460

Northern Pine

Aitkin 100,280 - 5,111 - 1,859 1,314 - 86,705 3,553 505 4 1,228

Becker 75,887 - 882 - 1,890 - - 71,833 836 - - 445

Beltrami 178,869 - 4,815 - 5,436 5,812 1,175 146,345 6,403 149 - 8,735

Cass 180,619 - 7,699 - 10,020 920 - 152,106 6,460 551 - 2,862

Clearwater 80,357 - 2,370 - 984 510 - 73,578 1,691 - - 1,224

Crow Wing 65,206 - - - 6,963 19 - 57,438 766 - - 20

Hubbard 108,406 - 490 - 6,778 75 - 93,886 4,639 233 109 2,195

Itasca 357,459 - 52,884 - 8,969 19,652 73 252,011 13,466 2,066 4 8,335

Lake of the Woods 50,480 - 2,088 - 10,443 1,929 57 34,915 51 - - 996

Mahnomen 15,083 - - - 16 - - 14,987 10 - - 69

Roseau 28,742 - 13 - 8,132 384 198 19,205 3 - - 808

Wadena 21,161 - - - 3,415 64 - 17,638 21 - - 22

 Total 1,262,547 - 76,351 - 64,905 30,678 1,503 1,020,648 37,901 3,504 117 26,940

Central Hardwood

Anoka 541 - - - 463 11 - 66 - - - - 

Benton 531 - - - 353 - - 178 - - - - 

Chisago 1,932 - - - 1,733 125 - 10 14 20 16 14

Douglas 1,512 - - - 13 - - 1,499 - - - - 

Goodhue 631 - - - - - - 631 - - - - 

Isanti 1,383 - - - 1,346 16 - 21 - - - - 

Kanabec 15,984 - - - 483 - - 15,419 74 - - 8

Mille Lacs 48,773 - - - 990 - - 47,439 211 121 - 11

Morrison 13,912 - 314 - 863 93 - 12,219 390 28 - 5

Otter Tail 30,414 - - - 34 - - 30,199 99 - - 82

Pine 117,366 - 2,022 - 8,152 879 52 95,053 7,100 3,922 16 170

Rice 13 - - - 13 - - - - - - - 

Sherburne 344 - - - 336 - - 9 - - - - 

Stearns 144 - - - 116 - - 28 - - - - 

Todd 6,171 - - - 80 - - 6,080 10 - - 1

Wabasha 541 - - - 436 - - 105 - - - - 

Washington 1,284 - - - 1,209 66 - 10 - - - 3/

Winona 279 - - - 279 - - - - - - - 

 Total 241,754 - 2,335 - 16,898 1,190 52 208,964 7,899 4,092 32 292

Prairie

Clay 3,229 - - - - - - 3,229 - - - - 

Kittson 5,568 - - - - - - 5,561 - - - 7

Marshall 11,422 - - - - - - 10,941 - - - 481

Norman 3,081 - - - - - - 3,081 - - - - 

Pennington 2,461 - - - - - - 2,436 - - - 25

Polk 11,879 - - - - - 88 11,767 12 - - 13

Red Lake 5,516 - - - - - - 5,501 10 - - 5

 Total 43,157 - - - - - 88 42,516 22 - - 531

State total 2,810,075 - 197,737 - 122,021 149,956 12,217 2,103,289 110,685 16,738 211 97,222

1/ Table may not add due to rounding. (Table 1 continued on next page)

2/ Includes only those counties that supplied pulpwood in 1995.

3/ Less than one-half cord.
(Table 1 continued)

MICHIGAN

Species group

Unit and All N. white- Balsam Tama- Other

county 2/ species cedar fir Hemlock Pine Spruce rack Aspen Birch Maple Oak hardwoods

Eastern Upper Peninsula

Alger 144,926 397 5,454 5,732 17,012 5,516 505 27,816 7,994 62,955 1,509 10,035

Chippewa 104,644 236 4,270 1,624 25,406 3,016 281 32,319 5,368 22,338 427 9,359

Delta 138,878 486 6,579 4,807 27,048 2,684 652 34,319 10,454 42,850 873 8,128

Luce 73,690 119 1,834 5,567 15,766 2,422 261 12,857 3,271 27,191 752 3,648

Mackinac 85,746 244 5,842 1,276 10,367 2,503 219 29,820 6,287 20,061 383 8,744

Menominee 98,558 234 3,998 2,666 5,401 1,661 325 38,656 12,250 26,944 793 5,629

Schoolcraft 127,805 410 5,994 3,071 46,200 8,859 649 16,269 5,399 34,616 888 5,452

 Total 774,247 2,127 33,972 24,743 147,199 26,662 2,892 192,057 51,023 236,953 5,624 50,996

Western Upper Peninsula

Baraga 97,832 76 1,946 3,576 5,476 1,601 428 29,513 8,876 36,642 1,645 8,051

Dickinson 102,490 273 4,914 2,118 9,843 4,346 347 48,091 8,683 18,770 761 4,343

Gogebic 96,719 1 3,064 735 452 5,792 15 22,277 5,490 48,227 3,260 7,406

Houghton 187,379 182 3,242 3,196 10,935 2,918 231 47,126 16,512 81,775 3,523 17,740

Iron 190,684 434 13,803 3,699 16,187 8,824 717 64,778 14,863 54,170 1,941 11,266

Keweenaw 12,780 -- 42 43 27 -- -- 1,704 1,332 8,573 303 756

Marquette 316,092 1,014 13,960 26,051 53,737 12,395 1,625 75,779 21,184 90,197 1,766 18,384

Ontonagon 144,761 32 2,021 1,499 2,808 3,046 97 78,769 6,927 36,577 1,902 11,082

 Total 1,148,734 2,012 42,991 40,917 99,467 38,921 3,460 368,038 83,866 374,930 15,102 79,030

Northern Lower Peninsula

Alcona 32,135 -- 47 -- 489 -- -- 22,286 2,193 4,435 120 2,567

Alpena 26,887 -- 76 -- -- -- -- 16,288 1,121 7,978 22 1,401

Antrim 6,062 -- -- -- 182 -- -- 2,530 543 2,271 97 439

Arenac 10,048 -- -- -- 539 -- -- 7,135 620 1,420 -- 334

Bay 5,928 -- -- -- 35 -- -- 2,886 414 2,176 87 329

Benzie 19,765 -- -- -- 2,739 -- -- 6,917 932 5,778 549 2,849

Charlevoix 10,904 -- -- -- 338 -- -- 3,569 348 3,170 -- 3,478

Cheboygan 47,547 113 1,285 -- 5,789 447 -- 30,311 2,701 5,804 124 974

Clare 37,375 -- -- -- 2,638 -- -- 25,360 1,508 5,687 338 1,842

Crawford 55,362 -- -- -- 26,050 -- -- 17,093 1,703 6,419 2,956 1,140

Emmet 29,121 -- -- -- 2,329 -- -- 9,762 1,230 12,630 -- 3,169

Gladwin 11,598 -- -- -- 491 -- -- 8,524 811 1,220 179 373

Grand Traverse 11,887 -- -- -- 3,919 -- -- 2,442 444 3,070 548 1,466

Iosco 14,001 -- 61 -- 568 -- -- 8,634 1,714 2,199 47 778

Isabella 20,638 -- -- -- 402 -- -- 12,284 1,267 4,532 -- 2,152

Kalkaska 28,184 15 120 -- 5,146 29 -- 12,940 1,379 6,045 382 2,128

Lake 28,849 -- -- -- 1,344 -- -- 10,493 1,191 3,742 10,584 1,497

Leelanau 4,589 -- -- -- 47 -- -- 1,697 298 1,678 351 518

Manistee 26,389 -- -- -- 448 -- -- 12,097 1,531 5,962 4,279 2,073

Mason 24,714 -- -- -- -- -- -- 13,642 1,633 3,075 5,031 1,333

Mecosta 13,719 -- -- -- 438 -- -- 10,245 489 1,536 381 628

Midland 13,676 -- -- -- 61 -- -- 9,237 909 2,777 201 489

Missaukee 28,984 -- -- -- 5,801 -- -- 16,146 963 4,253 853 969

Montmorency 44,379 5 54 -- 804 20 -- 27,984 2,169 9,092 595 3,655

Newaygo 29,209 -- -- -- 1,236 -- -- 11,099 1,308 5,434 7,671 2,462

Oceana 11,299 -- -- -- 71 -- -- 6,260 775 2,406 574 1,214

Ogemaw 32,396 23 183 -- 9,530 44 -- 13,031 1,599 3,238 3,494 1,254

Osceola 48,325 -- -- -- 212 -- -- 25,953 2,806 9,093 6,091 4,171

Oscoda 30,223 -- 53 -- 9,334 41 -- 13,542 1,264 3,007 2,056 925

Otsego 35,652 5 39 -- 10,390 10 -- 15,110 490 3,948 1,350 4,311

Presque Isle 47,992 18 449 -- 3,730 262 -- 27,047 3,227 10,815 14 2,428

Roscommon 41,721 5 42 -- 9,044 10 -- 22,462 1,643 6,930 1,297 288

Wexford 15,381 -- -- -- 4,193 -- -- 4,493 478 4,036 884 1,296

 Total 844,938 184 2,409 -- 108,336 862 -- 429,499 41,703 155,857 51,155 54,933

Southern Lower Peninsula

Allegan 11,589 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2,617 -- 1,868 7,103 -- 

Barry 1,899 -- -- -- -- -- -- 429 -- 286 1,184 -- 

Berrien 2,231 -- -- -- -- -- -- 257 -- 408 1,565 -- 

Cass 2,351 -- -- -- -- -- -- 270 -- 408 1,672 -- 

Gratiot 792 -- -- -- -- -- -- 159 4 248 -- 381

Huron 947 -- -- -- 23 -- -- 773 23 128 -- -- 

Ionia 710 -- -- -- -- -- -- 82 -- 154 474 -- 

Kalamazoo 1,295 -- -- -- -- -- -- 129 -- 204 963 -- 

Kent 5,908 -- -- -- 41 -- -- 1,038 4 1,078 3,360 387

Montcalm 14,208 -- -- -- 70 -- -- 3,536 48 3,353 2,579 4,622

Muskegon 14,315 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1,917 27 1,727 8,001 2,643

Ottawa 4,162 -- -- -- -- -- -- 566 7 765 1,891 932

Sanilac 270 -- -- -- -- -- -- 260 -- 9 -- -- 

St Joseph 2,636 -- -- -- -- -- -- 300 -- 286 2,050 -- 

Tuscola 472 -- -- -- -- -- -- 416 -- 56 -- -- 

Van Buren 2,694 -- -- -- -- -- -- 322 -- 306 2,066 -- 

 Total 66,480 -- -- -- 134 -- -- 13,072 114 11,287 32,910 8,966

State total 2,834,399 4,323 79,372 65,660 355,134 66,445 6,352 1,002,665 176,705 779,028 104,790 193,923

(Table 1 continued on next page)
(Table 1 continued)

WISCONSIN

Species group

Unit and All N. white- Balsam Tama- Other

county 2/ species cedar fir Hemlock Pine Spruce rack Aspen Birch Maple Oak hardwood

Northeastern

Florence 60,608 18 3,340 615 7,267 1,361 154 20,838 4,643 17,970 994 3,407

Forest 125,168 -- 4,316 5,568 5,840 2,943 370 45,607 12,218 31,506 3,561 13,241

Langlade 145,894 -- 5,167 1,999 6,098 1,894 486 58,275 23,162 33,687 4,143 10,982

Lincoln 114,164 -- 2,873 575 7,891 1,100 236 55,369 13,925 16,743 4,951 10,501

Marinette 117,990 1 3,885 541 30,158 1,265 587 44,536 11,699 20,426 1,624 3,266

Menominee 74,377 211 3,111 12,080 10,470 716 268 24,937 2,121 14,416 760 5,287

Oconto 70,756 -- 267 149 14,706 159 134 33,191 6,430 12,378 750 2,590

Oneida 124,479 -- 3,873 345 14,411 4,285 847 41,201 22,101 20,356 5,982 11,078

Shawano 31,062 -- 61 1,172 4,288 48 70 18,209 875 4,322 422 1,594

Vilas 155,411 -- 3,147 124 30,512 1,739 568 54,457 26,102 22,679 5,141 10,942

 Total 1,019,908 230 30,040 23,167 131,642 15,509 3,721 396,620 123,275 194,483 28,330 72,892

Northwestern

Ashland 81,276 -- 3,101 76 4,107 3,552 701 33,819 12,277 15,744 3,087 4,812

Barron 24,031 -- 43 14 1,027 60 -- 15,563 1,975 3,366 655 1,327

Bayfield 188,458 -- 4,458 41 46,783 2,064 40 89,439 20,432 14,201 5,359 5,643

Burnett 71,483 -- 125 -- 31,954 92 7 32,130 1,971 3,584 871 751

Douglas 197,474 -- 13,144 -- 74,278 2,340 194 72,052 22,103 11,241 526 1,598

Iron 162,413 -- 3,483 316 2,583 2,723 141 87,820 15,901 30,735 5,715 12,996

Polk 44,479 -- 14 14 17,031 13 -- 23,352 977 1,418 1,171 490

Price 136,349 -- 7,474 757 5,296 3,374 948 64,528 17,267 20,097 5,314 11,294

Rusk 88,579 -- 169 67 1,752 294 336 42,510 12,895 18,157 3,646 8,752

Sawyer 166,152 -- 5,206 278 12,575 3,700 523 66,827 30,361 32,485 4,905 9,292

Taylor 75,333 -- 2,313 1,740 929 596 827 37,547 8,732 13,112 2,472 7,063

Washburn 96,953 -- 904 24 29,313 540 95 48,076 7,085 7,886 1,095 1,936

 Total 1,332,981 -- 40,434 3,325 227,626 19,347 3,812 613,664 151,976 172,027 34,816 65,956

Central

Adams 77,551 -- 30 -- 55,323 4 -- 5,434 449 847 14,836 626

Chippewa 33,495 -- 32 41 1,917 31 -- 19,788 2,949 4,684 1,757 2,297

Clark 100,350 -- 25 32 4,483 1 -- 53,325 9,220 15,790 10,632 6,845

Eau Claire 39,297 -- -- -- 12,519 10 -- 10,189 3,047 4,994 6,559 1,977

Jackson 90,056 -- 30 25 54,428 29 34 13,160 3,641 6,153 9,878 2,677

Juneau 64,399 -- -- 3 44,336 5 93 2,401 1,063 2,277 13,380 840

Marathon 71,406 -- 677 834 7,177 1,162 30 31,582 4,004 14,018 2,568 9,352

Marquette 12,500 -- 6 -- 10,371 -- 56 355 127 205 1,234 144

Monroe 32,480 -- -- -- 19,279 19 -- 3,119 1,060 2,309 5,635 1,059

Portage 38,004 -- 50 188 21,700 146 248 8,706 668 2,422 2,401 1,476

Waupaca 17,540 -- 49 125 6,354 693 51 7,190 304 1,315 350 1,110

Waushara 32,492 -- -- -- 28,165 271 187 1,055 239 580 1,681 315

Wood 51,534 -- -- 40 19,006 509 -- 22,923 1,430 3,247 3,412 967

 Total 661,102 -- 900 1,287 285,059 2,880 699 179,228 28,200 58,841 74,324 29,684

Southwestern

Buffalo 8,281 -- 806 -- 2,364 66 -- 3,358 405 646 298 339

Crawford 190 -- -- -- 13 -- -- -- 15 30 126 6

Dunn 17,219 -- -- -- 7,552 111 -- 5,314 1,336 1,795 491 619

Grant 4,125 -- -- 13 3,951 -- -- 36 26 72 13 14

Iowa 1,310 -- -- -- 1,066 164 -- 69 3 7 1 1

La Crosse 3,804 -- -- -- 3,008 153 -- 425 37 99 40 42

Lafayette 57 -- -- -- 13 -- -- -- 7 12 23 2

Pepin 584 -- -- -- 79 45 -- 390 16 33 8 12

Pierce 943 -- 18 -- 567 10 -- 167 44 70 34 33

Richland 661 -- -- -- 355 -- -- -- 16 49 221 20

Sauk 9,530 -- -- -- 5,501 259 -- 429 390 755 1,888 307

St Croix 9,970 -- -- -- 5,025 407 -- 3,436 370 560 42 131

Trempealeau 9,182 -- 45 -- 3,935 342 -- 2,885 367 571 671 364

Vernon 408 -- 16 -- 50 -- -- 14 22 52 233 21

 Total 66,263 -- 884 13 33,479 1,558 -- 16,523 3,055 4,750 4,088 1,914

Southeastern

Brown 7,067 -- -- -- 897 -- -- 5,251 28 206 7 677

Calumet 65 -- -- -- 23 -- -- 42 -- -- -- -- 

Columbia 4,510 -- -- -- 3,328 11 -- 133 90 155 721 71

Dane 389 -- 10 -- 18 -- -- 26 68 103 80 83

Dodge 194 -- -- -- 166 -- -- 28 -- -- -- -- 

Door 2,289 -- 11 -- 17 -- 13 442 1,554 186 26 38

Fond Du Lac 527 -- -- -- 168 -- -- 228 20 34 69 8

Green 57 -- 13 -- -- -- -- -- 7 10 19 8

Green Lake 1,344 -- -- -- 758 -- -- 32 103 181 199 71

Jefferson 6,643 -- 1,033 243 5,285 41 14 28 -- -- -- -- 

Kenosha 755 -- -- -- 617 125 -- 13 -- -- -- -- 

Kewaunee 324 -- 16 23 -- -- -- 14 37 202 3 30

Manitowoc 35 -- -- -- 11 -- -- -- 2 18 -- 3

Milwaukee 19 -- -- -- 19 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 

Outagamie 4,902 -- -- -- 547 33 24 1,929 300 1,549 221 299

Ozaukee 77 -- -- -- 16 61 -- -- -- -- -- -- 

Rock 28 -- 13 -- 16 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 

Sheboygan 2,767 -- 16 -- 2,615 99 -- 10 5 8 6 9

Walworth 893 -- -- -- 892 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 

Washington 932 -- -- -- 742 176 14 -- -- -- -- -- 

Waukesha 823 -- -- -- 791 -- -- 11 9 10 -- 2

Winnebago 50 -- -- -- -- -- -- 15 3 6 25 1

 Total 34,690 -- 1,111 266 16,927 547 64 8,202 2,226 2,667 1,376 1,302

State total 3,114,945 230 73,370 28,058 694,733 39,841 8,295 1,214,236 308,732 432,768 142,936 171,747

Total Lake States 8,759,419 4,553 350,478 93,717 1,171,888 256,243 26,864 4,320,190 596,122 1,228,533 247,937 462,893