By Brian Anderson, DNR Forest Inventory Analyst, Rhinelander and Alex Rosenflanz, DNR Forest Inventory Specialist, Madison

Acres Of Black Walnut Forests
Black walnut is a valuable and highly sought-after species found in the Midwest and Eastern United States. In Wisconsin, its distribution is primarily limited to the state’s southern region, although scattered sites are found farther north. The total acreage of black walnut in the state has increased nearly three times, from approximately 35,065 acres in 2004, to 101,274 acres in 2019.

Of that total, surprisingly, only 10% is attributed to stands established by artificial regeneration. The distribution of acres by stand age shows a boon in stands aged 31 to 90 years since 2004, with younger age classes remaining relatively steady since 2009 (Figure 1). Relatively few stands have reached ages over 90 years.
Continue reading “Black Walnut Trends In Wisconsin” →

By Collin Buntrock, DNR Forest Products Team Leader

I am very pleased to announce that Brian Zweifel has accepted the statewide Forest Products Specialist position in Dodgeville. Brian’s first day was Feb. 14.

Brian brings a diverse background in forestry and partnership development and will play a key role in forest products training, business and market development regionally and across Wisconsin. He has worked as a DNR forester and consulting forester and has experience with international marketing and forest products extension.

He is excited to bring his experience as a field forester and forest products extension to the forest products services team to support, promote and grow Wisconsin’s forest products industry.

By Collin Buntrock, DNR Forest Products Team Leader and Brian Anderson, DNR Forest Inventory Analyst

Forests are an essential part of Wisconsin’s past and present. Wisconsin’s forests cover over 40% of the total land area, encompassing nearly 17 million acres. Since the cutover of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Wisconsin’s forests have been expanding consistently in acreage, volume and annual growth rate. Those trends largely continue today.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program has taken inventories of Wisconsin’s forests — and the nation’s forests as a whole — since the 1930s. This inventory program provides critical information on Wisconsin’s forests to inform how we manage, utilize, and conserve our forestland. The U.S. Forest Service administered this annual program in close cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Division of Forestry.

Since 1968, Wisconsin has provided funding to intensify the inventory by doubling the number of permanent plots from which data are collected. This offers more reliable data on areas smaller than on a statewide basis. It is critical in a landscape like Wisconsin, given the considerable heterogeneity and great number of important forest types.

The data collected through the FIA program can be used in a variety of ways. Uses include: decisions around forest management and planning by a wide array of ownerships; assessing the sustainability of forest management practices like harvest volumes over time; taking stock of trends in forest health such as mortality related to Emerald Ash Borer and oak wilt; and evaluating wildlife habitat conditions at landscape scales such as ruffed grouse habitat. Combined with other data sources, analyses on forest health, harvesting, and species compositional changes provide essential feedback on how we manage our forests and changes we should note. Continue reading “Wisconsin’s Forest Resource: Past, Present And Future” →