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-368

Pulpwood Production

in the Lake States,

1994

Ronald J. Piva
Pulpwood Production in the

Lake States, 1994

Ronald J. Piva1

ABSTRACT.—Pulpwood production in the Lake States increased from 9.4 million cords in 1993 to

9.7 million in 1994. 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—increased to

9.7 million cords in 1994 from 9.4 million cords in 19933. Wisconsin produced 3.5 million cords,

Michigan produced 3.3 million cords, and Minnesota produced 3.0 million cords in 1994 (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).

Figure 1.—Pulpwood production, Lake States, 1984-1994.

ROUNDWOOD

Roundwood production totaled 9.0 million cords and was equally distributed among the three

Lake States. Seventy-eight percent of the harvested species were hardwoods. Aspen accounted

for 49 percent of the total production (4.4 million cords). The other major species groups were

maple (1.3 million cords), pine (1.2 million cords), spruce-fir (0.6 million cords), and birch (0.6

million cords) (fig. 2).

 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, 1993,” Research Note NC-367,

1995.

Year

In million cords (unpeeled)

Roundwood

Residues

0

2

4

6

8

10

1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994
Pine

13%

Spruce-fir

7%

Other 

softwoods

1%

Aspen

49%

Birch

6%

Oak

4%

Maple

14%

Other 

hardwoods

6% Softwoods

Hardwoods

Figure 2.—Distribution of roundwood production by major species group, Lake States, 1994.

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

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

Douglas, Iron, Marinette, and Oneida in Wisconsin. These 12 counties contributed 36 percent of

the pulpwood production from roundwood in the Lake States in 1994.

In 1994, whole tree chips (WTC) supplied 679 thousand cords or 8 percent of the roundwood

production, a 13-percent increase over 1993. Michigan was the major WTC producer with 448

thousand cords, followed by Minnesota with 127 thousand cords, and Wisconsin with 105 thousand cords.

MILL RESIDUES

Pulpwood production from mill residues amounted to 756 thousand cords in 1994, a 10-

percent increase over 1993. Mill residue production increased by 53 percent in Minnesota,

increased by only 4 percent in Wisconsin, and decreased by 2 percent in Michigan. Production

from softwood and hardwood residues by State was:

State Softwood Hardwood

(Thousand standard cords,

unpeeled equivalents)

Michigan 72 169

Minnesota 103 69

Wisconsin 68 276

2
Table 1. -- Lake States pulpwood production from roundwood by county and species group, 1994

(In standard cords, unpeeled)

MINNESOTA

Species group

Unit and All Balsam Tama- N. white- Other 

county1species Pine Spruce fir Hemlock rack cedar Aspen Birch Oak Maple hardwoods

Aspen-Birch

Carlton 46,867 3,131 2,406 9,761 - 36 - 21,266 7,936 5 257 2,068

Cook 39,239 4,465 8,765 5,974 - 52 - 43,696 1,654 1 31 1,417

Koochiching 475,842 9,805 61,213 32,668 - 1,258 - 320,963 1,471 4 328 48,132

Lake 107,256 7,412 17,448 11,997 - 323 - 44,468 15,098 2 1,363 9,144

St Louis 622,290 21,124 46,680 53,423 - 701 - 431,286 18,138 5 8,228 42,704

 Total 1,318,309 45,937 136,512 113,823 - 2,370 - 861,679 44,299 18 10,207 103,465

Northern Pine

Aitkin 101,776 2,020 435 5,055 - - - 87,089 355 3 3,948 2,871

Becker 91,561 1,263 - 682 - - - 89,225 256 - - 135

Beltrami 204,648 8,284 5,619 4,521 - 567 - 171,387 7,990 - 149 6,132

Cass 168,005 11,604 1,665 6,364 - - - 142,276 3,891 28 806 1,372

Clearwater 68,195 258 266 2,048 - - - 63,375 1,144 - - 1,104

Crow Wing 76,745 7,425 15 - - - - 67,486 1,820 - - - 

Hubbard 115,055 4,301 228 436 - - - 104,387 3,454 - - 2,249

Itasca 344,093 5,279 17,679 48,807 - - - 248,425 10,895 8 5,264 7,735

Lake of the Woods 50,754 9,398 1,723 1,838 - - - 36,895 - - - 901

Mahnomen 17,242 - - - - - - 17,242 - - - - 

Roseau 27,178 7,769 220 110 - - - 18,285 - - - 794

Wadena 17,518 2,404 - - - - - 15,053 16 1 40 4

 Total 1,282,770 60,005 27,848 69,862 - 567 - 1,061,123 29,821 41 10,207 23,297

Central Hardwood

Anoka 74 74 - - - - - - - - - - 

Benton 744 - - - - - - 744 - - - - 

Carver 309 - - - - - - 309 - - - - 

Chisago 1,637 1,615 - - - - - 22 - - - - 

Douglas 10 10 - - - - - - - - - - 

Isanti 1,975 1,438 14 23 - - - 501 - - - - 

Kanabec 22,156 186 - 9 - - - 21,561 59 - 240 100

Mille Lacs 49,888 252 - - - - - 49,114 - - 522 - 

Morrison 12,397 471 - - - - - 11,926 - - - - 

Otter Tail 26,918 94 - - - - - 26,620 - - - 204

Pine 101,177 8,239 533 1,366 - - - 83,574 959 296 5,302 908

Sherburne 1,099 1,034 66 - - - - - - - - - 

Todd 3,261 234 - - - - - 3,026 - - - - 

Wabasha 526 526 - - - - - - - - - - 

 Total 222,171 14,174 613 1,398 - - - 197,396 1,018 296 6,065 1,212

Prairie

Clay 60 - - - - - - 60 - - - - 

Kittson 129 - - - - - - 129 - - - - 

Marshall 9,317 - - - - - - 9,317 - - - - 

Norman 5,668 - - - - - - 5,668 - - - - 

Pennington 3,701 - - - - - - 3,701 - - - - 

Polk 10,365 - - - - - - 10,365 - - - - 

Red Lake 5,829 - - - - - - 5,829 - - - - 

 Total 35,069 - - - - - - 35,069 - - - - 

State total 2,858,319 120,115 164,973 185,084 - 2,937 - 2,155,268 75,137 354 26,478 127,974

1 Includes only those counties that supplied pulpwood in 1994. (Table 1 continued on next page)
(Table 1 continued)

MICHIGAN

Species group

Unit and All Balsam Tama- N. white- Other 

county1species Pine Spruce fir Hemlock rack cedar Aspen Birch Oak Maple hardwoods

Eastern Upper Peninsula

Alger 137,519 15,897 1,629 6,612 6,486 626 661 23,672 8,927 1,362 58,885 12,764

Chippewa 107,527 26,199 4,109 10,395 4,695 847 982 24,003 5,327 241 20,980 9,745

Delta 146,953 19,250 3,439 8,499 4,761 752 790 45,189 23,461 776 27,873 12,163

Luce 72,399 11,937 3,284 5,622 5,744 496 553 10,275 4,082 763 25,959 3,685

Mackinac 94,285 7,266 4,127 5,669 2,245 393 508 30,202 11,308 266 22,137 10,166

Menominee 98,682 5,088 2,579 7,578 1,502 308 277 32,528 14,664 893 25,415 7,851

Schoolcraft 115,657 25,038 3,556 10,742 8,213 1,043 1,097 15,429 6,925 742 33,673 9,200

 Total 773,022 110,675 22,722 55,117 33,647 4,466 4,868 181,296 74,693 5,045 214,922 65,572

Western Upper Peninsula

Baraga 91,385 4,151 953 2,073 1,442 215 170 31,138 9,303 1,126 32,039 8,775

Dickinson 113,903 15,356 4,779 4,647 2,290 501 405 55,312 8,279 570 16,320 5,443

Gogebic 84,784 854 3,965 3,252 906 - - 20,255 3,768 2,930 41,385 7,468

Houghton 127,812 6,962 2,410 3,655 1,654 168 187 27,962 14,690 2,366 54,430 13,329

Iron 183,759 15,994 11,142 12,355 3,633 578 564 61,070 11,636 2,290 49,040 15,457

Keweenaw 19,322 111 198 - 27 - - 5,090 1,524 421 10,234 1,717

Marquette 326,296 45,809 12,581 17,435 23,962 1,687 1,646 76,699 29,913 2,004 89,352 25,207

Ontonagon 193,067 11,473 2,275 1,858 516 10 4 82,364 8,352 3,710 57,928 24,576

 Total 1,140,329 100,708 38,304 45,276 34,432 3,158 2,975 359,890 87,466 15,416 350,730 101,973

Northern Lower Peninsula

Alcona 52,371 835 16 26 - - - 33,748 2,388 7,589 4,239 3,529

Alpena 19,022 621 84 270 - - 18 11,900 1,083 478 3,210 1,357

Antrim 8,444 451 - - - - - 3,729 332 150 3,403 378

Arenac 14,831 203 - - - - - 11,146 944 370 1,912 256

Bay 329 - - - - - - 329 - - - - 

Benzie 19,566 53 - - - - - 6,621 1,544 764 6,877 3,707

Charlevoix 17,593 811 30 127 - - 16 12,501 434 - 3,443 231

Cheboygan 58,121 12,726 270 864 - - 96 30,825 2,686 1,285 7,677 1,690

Clare 59,207 667 - - - - - 46,011 2,192 1,591 8,530 218

Crawford 53,372 27,310 51 213 - - 27 14,406 1,123 5,853 3,742 646

Emmet 22,668 3,250 53 119 - - 6 11,797 1,194 2 5,761 486

Gladwin 20,825 362 - - - - - 15,531 1,036 764 2,960 173

Grand Traverse 18,081 8,426 - - - - - 3,194 364 301 4,352 1,443

Iosco 14,077 621 - - - - - 7,429 1,519 1,766 2,373 370

Isabella 17,163 65 - - - - - 10,315 1,084 3,705 1,153 840

Kalkaska 38,427 15,118 - - - - - 12,209 1,048 1,068 8,300 682

Lake 43,403 5,409 - - - - - 17,022 1,097 16,880 2,315 681

Leelanau 6,862 1,677 - - - - - 1,095 424 335 2,371 958

Manistee 47,467 806 - - - - - 18,158 2,043 11,705 11,724 3,031

Mason 26,870 - - - - - - 15,005 1,424 5,998 3,644 799

Mecosta 34,026 13 - - - - - 21,305 1,089 5,383 4,180 2,057

Midland 18,266 35 - - - - - 10,415 1,708 1,197 3,574 1,338

Missaukee 44,404 3,671 - - - - - 23,920 2,178 3,725 7,691 3,221

Montmorency 54,474 3,450 - 30 - - - 29,135 2,879 4,015 9,274 5,690

Newaygo 30,397 - - - - - - 16,125 485 8,131 4,343 1,312

Oceana 21,387 - - - - - - 11,601 663 4,417 2,518 2,188

Ogemaw 30,809 4,805 2 7 - - 1 17,223 1,873 2,208 3,942 749

Osceola 29,543 67 - - - - - 16,119 1,549 6,740 3,570 1,499

Oscoda 28,172 5,471 - 10 - - - 14,949 1,215 3,018 2,920 591

Otsego 37,641 5,110 208 400 - - 15 20,499 1,018 168 9,304 921

Presque Isle 71,565 3,790 341 311 - - 2 35,560 8,961 5,310 10,654 6,635

Roscommon 52,186 23,300 - - - - - 19,661 1,222 2,945 4,904 154

Wexford 23,143 3,116 - - - - - 7,521 785 1,160 7,730 2,831

 Total 1,034,709 132,235 1,055 2,377 - - 180 527,004 49,583 109,020 162,593 50,662

Southern Lower Peninsula

Allegan 10,104 - - - - - - 1,814 - 7,229 1,062 - 

Barry 742 - - - - - - - - 537 204 - 

Calhoun 2,007 - - - - - - - - 2,006 - - 

Cass 471 - - - - - - - - 430 41 - 

Clinton 597 - - - - - - - - 335 - 261

Eaton 3,617 - - - - - - - 52 1,325 1,042 1,197

Gratiot 147 9 - - - - - 138 - - - - 

Jackson 13 - - - 13 - - - - - - - 

Kalamazoo 2,329 - - - - - - - - 2,329 - - 

Kent 9,233 - - - - - - 3,672 3 3,851 1,697 9

Montcalm 14,311 17 - - - - - 4,278 575 7,100 1,352 990

Muskegon 14,165 - - - - - - 5,710 223 6,607 1,163 460

Ottawa 3,183 - - - - - - 274 - 2,419 490 - 

Saginaw 18 - - - - - - - - - 18 - 

Shiawassee 331 - - - - - - 229 - 102 - - 

St Joseph 2,527 - - - - - - - - 1,792 735 - 

Van Buren 962 - - - - - - - - 716 245 - 

 Total 64,755 26 - - 13 - - 16,116 853 36,780 8,049 2,919

State total 3,012,815 343,646 62,081 102,769 68,091 7,624 8,023 1,084,306 212,595 166,261 736,294 221,126

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

WISCONSIN

Species group

Unit and All Balsam Tama- N. white- Other 

county1species Pine Spruce fir Hemlock rack cedar Aspen Birch Oak Maple hardwoods

Northeastern

Florence 72,346 4,163 1,267 2,037 3,238 122 22 33,336 5,600 939 17,589 4,032

Forest 139,745 5,357 3,297 5,688 2,412 63 - 41,868 13,907 5,318 47,432 14,404

Langlade 132,316 6,756 1,451 4,279 1,390 146 - 50,088 15,478 4,809 37,486 10,433

Lincoln 107,730 5,791 827 2,892 577 605 - 48,495 10,108 6,763 20,096 11,576

Marinette 133,085 44,648 522 5,129 365 442 6 48,244 8,569 2,402 18,473 4,284

Menominee 75,643 6,843 327 1,535 17,504 133 147 22,456 2,949 1,931 16,124 5,692

Oconto 71,164 18,225 13 833 159 9 - 26,553 8,486 949 12,665 3,271

Oneida 161,853 19,164 2,772 5,246 1,551 1,260 - 49,455 23,976 11,055 28,864 18,508

Shawano 25,572 2,695 35 36 340 203 - 17,217 498 467 2,818 1,262

Vilas 146,871 21,549 1,832 3,819 600 272 - 55,638 26,403 4,805 24,138 7,812

 Total 1,066,324 135,191 12,344 31,494 28,136 3,256 176 393,353 115,974 39,439 225,685 81,278

Northwestern

Ashland 82,438 4,302 4,182 3,186 299 786 - 34,599 7,485 4,029 19,330 4,239

Barron 22,691 2,643 120 14 11 860 - 9,428 2,020 1,277 4,837 1,482

Bayfield 196,751 57,453 949 1,308 33 56 - 84,367 22,878 5,593 19,142 4,973

Burnett 78,630 45,422 93 180 14 13 - 23,694 1,907 1,565 4,057 1,687

Douglas 177,846 71,513 2,421 10,356 - 133 - 67,165 15,322 1,454 6,866 2,616

Iron 151,210 2,905 2,980 4,158 895 76 - 77,873 11,419 6,973 32,645 11,288

Polk 27,230 6,388 88 13 - - - 16,399 1,287 562 1,761 730

Price 142,693 5,684 2,234 6,488 843 1,251 - 66,709 16,585 5,895 25,943 11,060

Rusk 111,785 2,689 747 408 305 646 - 53,066 11,329 5,872 27,473 9,249

Sawyer 139,451 12,653 968 2,371 178 683 - 53,241 22,811 5,128 33,629 7,790

Taylor 77,695 598 785 2,214 1,120 361 - 42,865 5,797 3,158 13,927 6,870

Washburn 103,142 29,676 208 700 19 6 - 43,623 7,654 2,379 15,067 3,809

 Total 1,311,562 241,926 15,775 31,395 3,717 4,873 - 573,027 126,492 43,883 204,678 65,795

Central

Adams 78,054 58,063 71 - - - - 2,414 300 15,911 802 494

Chippewa 37,390 1,384 32 70 90 146 - 22,139 2,524 2,046 6,289 2,671

Clark 84,182 7,308 10 14 9 - - 37,764 5,541 9,902 19,082 4,552

Eau Claire 53,382 20,418 219 2 - - - 14,728 2,618 7,676 6,249 1,474

Jackson 99,933 66,649 83 - 10 8 - 17,655 1,706 7,086 5,440 1,296

Juneau 54,550 37,970 - 5 - - - 2,569 508 11,528 1,587 383

Marathon 62,527 6,770 711 121 892 74 - 32,121 1,987 1,691 10,719 7,442

Marquette 12,909 11,233 24 - - - - 261 107 838 365 79

Monroe 26,769 20,049 10 - - - - 1,620 247 3,551 1,068 222

Portage 34,738 19,910 52 9 165 183 - 8,268 555 1,874 2,389 1,333

Waupaca 20,968 11,727 90 15 9 - - 6,196 222 393 1,409 908

Waushara 31,791 26,205 86 - - 8 - 1,374 215 2,907 712 283

Wood 43,046 19,371 43 5 42 - - 15,403 1,171 1,770 4,153 1,088

 Total 640,239 307,056 1,433 241 1,217 419 - 162,513 17,703 67,170 60,262 22,225

Southwestern

Buffalo 6,303 1,393 - - - - - 4,722 34 16 112 26

Crawford 393 221 - - - - - 16 1 141 7 7

Dunn 15,986 4,766 115 - - - - 5,673 944 887 2,620 980

Grant 3,872 3,638 - - - - - - 10 79 122 24

Iowa 1,190 1,182 9 - - - - - - - - - 

La Crosse 6,367 5,739 15 - - - - - 15 316 218 64

Lafayette 14 - 14 - - - - - - - - - 

Pepin 1,641 998 71 - - - - 514 8 5 35 9

Pierce 1,294 686 70 10 - - - 516 2 1 7 1

Richland 1,703 1,553 89 - - - - 14 3 17 22 4

Sauk 8,381 6,495 17 - - - - 262 49 1,336 158 66

St Croix 9,094 4,595 160 - - - - 4,326 2 2 8 - 

Trempealeau 8,145 6,211 170 3 - - - 944 74 439 244 61

Vernon 724 590 - - - - - - 9 71 47 7

 Total 65,109 38,065 728 14 - - - 16,987 1,154 3,310 3,600 1,252

Southeastern

Brown 15,289 346 - - 13 - - 11,949 82 45 586 2,268

Calumet 63 21 - - - - - - 4 4 30 4

Columbia 4,610 3,134 31 6 - - - 143 8 1,256 24 7

Dane 1,003 823 10 - - - - - 36 43 54 37

Dodge 632 547 72 - - - - - 3 3 4 4

Door 1,726 59 - - - - - 226 1,108 58 192 81

Fond Du Lac 12 12 - - - - - - - - - - 

Green 1,592 1,458 17 - - - - - 3 104 6 4

Green Lake 818 548 - 11 13 - - 114 19 51 41 21

Jefferson 2,175 2,155 - - 8 - - - 1 1 8 1

Kenosha 79 79 - - - - - - - - - - 

Kewaunee 1,593 59 - - 13 - - 99 119 686 537 80

Manitowoc 446 423 - - 14 - - 9 - - - - 

Milwaukee 27 27 - - - - - - - - - - 

Outagamie 1,726 541 14 - - 6 - 778 44 42 261 41

Ozaukee 176 112 64 - - - - - - - - - 

Rock 643 540 - - - - - - - - 54 49

Sheboygan 60 60 - - - - - - - - - - 

Walworth 1,356 1,356 - - - - - - - - - - 

Washington 1,231 911 296 11 - - - - 3 3 4 2

Waukesha 1,984 1,984 - - - - - - - - - - 

Winnebago 521 189 - - - - - - 25 133 153 21

 Total 37,763 15,386 503 29 59 6 - 13,318 1,455 2,429 1,955 2,623

State total 3,120,997 737,623 30,783 63,172 33,130 8,555 176 1,159,197 262,778 156,231 496,180 173,173

Total Lake States 8,992,131 1,201,384 257,837 351,025 101,221 19,116 8,199 4,398,771 550,510 322,846 1,258,952 522,273