Data and analysis

Housing Wisconsin: Home Building Trends, Outlook

Housing Market Index (HMI) Survey, March 2025. Source: NAHB/Wells Fargo. / Graphic Credit: Brian Zweifel, Wisconsin DNR

By Brian Zweifel, DNR Forest Products Specialist, Dodgeville
Brian.Zweifel@wisconsin.gov

Variability and uncertainty seem like key words to describe many things right now, but the words apply especially to current housing markets.

The home construction and remodeling industry is a key driver of forest products markets and can be an important indicator of future demand. Softwood lumber and engineered wood products such as oriented strand board, plywood and laminated beams and joists are used in home construction. Hardwood lumber, however, is used to manufacture flooring, cabinets and other millwork items for interior applications.

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A Closer Look At Red Pine In Wisconsin

Wide-angle photo of a red pine tree stand in Wisconsin.

A stand of red pine trees towers over its Wisconsin stand. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Ryan Heiderman, DNR Forest Inventory Analyst
Ryan.Heiderman@wisconsin.gov

Of Wisconsin’s almost 17 million acres of forest land, the red pine forest type currently covers approximately 815,000 acres. Of those red pine acres, 80%, or 656,000 acres, are planted.

Overall, the acres of red pine have increased substantially since the cutover period of the early 1900s (Figure 1), particularly from planted red pine. In the 1939 report summarizing Wisconsin’s first periodic forest inventory, the authors give a dire warning stating that, with the exception of jack pine, the pine forests are almost gone, having been depleted and deforested in the decades prior.

Chart showing trends of red pine forest type acres in Wisconsin

Chart showing trends of red pine forest type acres in Wisconsin. The asterisk indicates that stand origin was not designated prior to the 1983 inventory. / Graphic Credit: Ryan Heiderman, Wisconsin DNR

This early inventory indicated much of the deforested sandy pine forest had become occupied by aspen, paper birch and scrub oak. They went on to say while natural regeneration might be expected eventually, indications were that it would be slow, and planting seemed to be the only recourse if early reforestation was to be accomplished.

Reporting on the next periodic inventory in 1956, the authors highlighted that red pine acres were ‘coming back’ and white pine acres fading. They reported that much of the tree planting that had been done since the previous inventory was mostly red pine. Echoing the advice from the earlier inventory report, the authors again stated the importance of forest planting – saying reforestation could increase the acreage of productive forest land, but the planting job was a big one. At the time, they reported some 148,000 acres of the red pine forest type. They reported that over half (53%) of these red pine acres were on public lands. Today, more than 60% of red pine acres are in privately-owned forests.

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Impact Of Home Building On Wood Products Sector

Figure 1. Number of full-and part-time sawmill employment in Wisconsin, 2015-2023. Data Source: IMPLAN. / Graphic Credit: Ram Dahal, Wisconsin DNR

By Ram Dahal, DNR Forest Economist, Madison
Ram.Dahal@wisconsin.gov

Residential home construction heavily depends on wood products like lumber. When housing starts increase, the demand for softwood and hardwood lumber and engineered wood products typically rises, and vice versa.

The home building market experienced a variety of challenges in recent years due to stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second quarter of 2020, the US experienced a reduction of more than 25% in new privately owned housing starts compared to the previous quarter. Almost all regions experienced similar downfall (Figure 1).

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Eastern White Pine CLT Research Moving Along

A five-ply panel of Eastern white pine from Wisconsin being formed into cross-laminated timber in a press at Michigan Technological University. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Alex Anderson, DNR Forest Products Specialist, Tomahawk
Alexander.Anderson@wisconsin.gov

As part of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Forest Products Services mandate to explore new markets for species considered underutilized in the state, a research project was proposed to evaluate the viability of Eastern white pine (EWP) in cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels.

CLT has become increasingly popular in the U.S. during the last decade-plus, after the product was determined to be an effective alternative to traditional concrete and steel construction for multi-story construction in Europe. It is created by pressing dimension lumber (2x4s and 2x6s, typically) into large panels where each layer runs perpendicular to those above or below it, similar to plywood. This construction method allows for large structural panels to be created entirely from wood.

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Urban Forest Inventory And Analysis Release

By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist
Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578

Much of what we know about our urban forests is limited to publicly maintained spaces such as in parks or along streets. However, the curtain covering other urban lands is rising, starting in Milwaukee and Madison.

The Urban Forest Inventory and Analysis (UFIA) program, a partnership between the USDA Forest Service and the DNR, has established 1,300 permanent plots in urban areas across Wisconsin. Project foresters captured loads of information on each plot, such as tree species and sizes, land ownership, tree damages, and wood volume. The data were extrapolated from those plots and made into estimates for each city. The data were also incorporated into i-Tree to calculate ecosystem services. Continue reading “Urban Forest Inventory And Analysis Release”

A Hopefully Not-Too-Deep Look Into i-Tree Benefits

By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist
Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578

Trees work in mysterious ways, and, for some users, so does i-Tree. The suite of software, developed by the USDA Forest Service and Davey Tree Expert Company, can, among other things, calculate the societal benefits of trees. Below, I try to summarize and demystify some of these estimates of ecosystem services, a somewhat sterile term for some of the cool things trees do for society and the wider environment.

Because the benefits identified in i-Tree only scratch the surface of trees’ importance to one’s community, it could be problematic and limiting if estimates from i-Tree are solely relied on to justify the investment in tree preservation, maintenance or planting. Nonetheless, these estimates help tell the story of the good work trees do in our communities. Continue reading “A Hopefully Not-Too-Deep Look Into i-Tree Benefits”

Cambridge Tree Trials

By Jay Weiss, Cambridge Tree Project Executive Director

When the Cambridge Tree Project launched nearly 20 years ago, urban tree growth and survival data were nearly impossible to find. In response, I began tracking the trees my nonprofit donated to the Village of Cambridge to assess their performance.

To date, I have records for 1,375 trees planted throughout Cambridge and have taken nearly 9,000 annual tree growth measurements. This dataset, known as the Cambridge Tree Trials, is openly shared for educational purposes in the form of annual updates emailed to over 450 forestry professionals across America. To be added to the distribution list, email jay@cambridgetreeproject.org. Continue reading “Cambridge Tree Trials”

Urban Forestry Internship Application Period Now Open

The application period is now open for hundreds of internships with the state of Wisconsin, including two positions with the DNR’s Urban Forestry program!

The urban forest interns will focus on data collection and analysis projects to expand our knowledge of the sustainable management of community forests. Daily work will mostly consist of different tree inventory projects, with opportunities to learn about the wider forestry and urban forestry fields in Wisconsin. Continue reading “Urban Forestry Internship Application Period Now Open”

New Tree Canopy Resources Released

By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist
Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578

Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) assessments using aerial or satellite imagery have been one of the primary ways people estimate the extent of urban forests across an area of interest, whether it be a single park, a streetscape or a whole community.

Two recently released UTC resources are ready for use by Wisconsin communities and urban forestry practitioners. The first, TreeCanopy.us, is a mapping application that shows UTC and other land cover in urban areas across the country for 2017 and 2022. It also shows changes in canopy cover between those five years. Continue reading “New Tree Canopy Resources Released”

Please Submit Trees Planted This Year!

By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist; Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578

Autumn is a wonderful time for planting trees. And after the trees go in the ground, please take a few minutes to document the effort in the Wisconsin Tree Planting Map. The map was designed to help track trees planted to advance the state’s pledge to the Trillion Trees Initiative.

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