Did you know?

After A Quiet Year, Conduct Spongy Moth Egg Mass Surveys This Fall

Posted on by akabelowsky

The only mature spongy moth caterpillar detected at Harrington Beach State Park in Ozaukee County in July 2026 crawls up a tree’s mainstream. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Bill McNee, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Oshkosh
Bill.McNee@wisconsin.gov

Wisconsin’s recent period of high spongy moth (Lymantria dispar) populations came to an end in 2025 and the population remained very low in 2026.

Only a handful of caterpillar reports were received, most often coming from southern Jefferson County and eastern Dane County. Most notably, numerous bur oaks were reported to be infested with several hundred caterpillars per tree in and around Cambridge, Fort Atkinson and Lake Mills; light feeding damage was visible.

Continue reading “After A Quiet Year, Conduct Spongy Moth Egg Mass Surveys This Fall” →

Oak Wilt Control: A Thousand-Foot View

Posted on by akabelowsky

A view of two pockets of oak wilt treatment areas using the girdle-herbicide treatment, one from the previous year (bottom, yellow circle) and one from the current year (top, blue circle), captured from an airplane. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Alex Hornung, Forest Health Specialist, Plover
Alexandra.Hornung@wisconsin.gov

An aerial survey was conducted in late August over parts of Lincoln and Taylor counties, primarily looking for new oak wilt infection centers.

A rare glimpse of what oak wilt control can look like was captured from the vantage point of the airplane. The photo below shows a girdle-herbicide oak wilt control treatment from this year, with trees dying; and another from last year, with dead trees standing.

Continue reading “Oak Wilt Control: A Thousand-Foot View” →

Parts Of Northern Wisconsin Experience “Exceptional Drought” Conditions

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Bill McNee, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Oshkosh
Bill.McNee@wisconsin.gov

map

A Wisconsin map showing drought conditions as of October 6, 2026. Map created by David Mocko, NASA/GSFC/SSAI. / Graphic Credit: Wisconsin DNR

Property owners and land managers in the northern half of Wisconsin are encouraged to monitor forest stands and ornamental trees for signs of decline and mortality due to the intensity of the current drought. In late September, parts of several counties reached the “Exceptional Drought” condition on the U.S. Drought Monitor (see maps). This is the most severe drought category used and it has only been seen in Wisconsin one other time since the U.S. Drought Monitor was created in 1999 (source: National Weather Service).

Continue reading “Parts Of Northern Wisconsin Experience “Exceptional Drought” Conditions” →

Free Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Survey Training Opportunity

Posted on by akabelowsky

Mitch Lannan of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, shows a hemlock branch infected by hemlock woolly adelgid. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DATCP

By Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

Are you interested in learning how to help protect the health of Wisconsin’s hemlocks? A new interactive opportunity is being offered this fall by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to monitor for hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA).

Continue reading “Free Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Survey Training Opportunity” →

Autumn Is A Great Time To Treat Invasive Plants

Posted on by akabelowsky

A nonnative honeysuckle plant with berries. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Wisconsin DNR

As temperatures begin to decline, the leaves of many plants and trees have begun to change color. Some trees in the northern part of the state have already begun dropping leaves.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds the public that in addition to enjoying the changing hues in the woods, fall also presents a great opportunity to spot invasive plants.

Continue reading “Autumn Is A Great Time To Treat Invasive Plants” →

DNR Now Accepting Seedling Orders

Posted on by akabelowsky

Rows of pine and tamarack seedlings in late March at the Wilson State Nursery. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Joe Vande Hey, DNR Reforestation Team Leader
Joseph.VandeHey@wisconsin.gov or 608-574-4904

As of Monday, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has begun accepting seedling orders from Wisconsin landowners who plan to plant them in spring 2027.

Continue reading “DNR Now Accepting Seedling Orders” →

Sapstreak Of Sugar Maple An Oldie But A Goodie

Posted on by akabelowsky

DNR Forester Paul Etten stands at the base of a sugar maple tree that has small leaves and a thin crown. The tree was dissected and found to have extensive sapwood streaking. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Alex Hornung, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Plover
Alexandra.Hornung@wisconsin.gov

There are some tree diseases that really get a lot of attention and others that get lost in historical documents, only popping up now and again to ignite excitement within the local plant pathologist community.

Maple sapstreak is one of the latter. This year, a site in Shawano County was found to have several trees experiencing symptoms of the disease. The symptoms led to a positive identification of maple sapstreak.

Continue reading “Sapstreak Of Sugar Maple An Oldie But A Goodie” →

Latest Timber Products Output Survey Results For Wisconsin Available

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Ryan Heiderman, Wisconsin DNR Forest Inventory Analyst

Recently, the United States Forest Service released updated data summaries from the Timber Products Output (TPO) survey, a component of the National Resource Use Monitoring (NRUM) program. This program falls under the larger Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) umbrella of programs. New data download, factsheets and other data products can be found on the NRUM webpage.

TPO is a survey on manufacturers who use harvested wood products that reports size of facilities, products manufactured, manufacturing capacity and other important indicators of the forest products industry. TPO data is reported for individual states based on an annual survey. The survey is administered by the Wisconsin DNR’s Forest Products Services team in partnership with the USFS. Annually, the team surveys approximately 85 primary wood processing facilities across Wisconsin. In addition to providing valuable industry data about roundwood production and wood residue generation, the survey offers an opportunity to connect with mills throughout the state, strengthening relationships and providing insight into current market conditions and trends within Wisconsin’s forest products industry.

chart

Figure 1: Annual hardwood and softwood roundwood production trends of Wisconsin’s primary wood-using mills. Data is sourced from various USFS publications reporting on the Wisconsin’s timber industry and wood product output. / Graphic Credit: Wisconsin DNR

The most recent TPO data is available for Wisconsin survey years 2022 and 2023. The most recent data shows 265 million cubic feet of roundwood production in Wisconsin mills, with about 75% of this production coming from hardwood species. Historic TPO data can be found in numerous reports published by the USFS dating back almost 100 years (Figure 1). Roundwood production ramped up in the 1980s as many of the cutover lands were becoming mature again and peaked in the 1990s. Wisconsin experienced a decline in large sawmills and paper mills from 1999 through 2008, with production subsequently declining during the 2008 financial crisis. Production rebounded slightly and again decreased during the COVID-19 years.

Roundwood is processed into different products depending on the species, tree size, market conditions, harvest site proximity to mills and a variety of other variables. In 2023, the majority of roundwood was processed into two major product categories accounting for over 80% of production: sawlogs and pulpwood (Figure 2).

chart

Figure 2: Roundwood product production by product class. / Graphic Credit: USDA Timber Products Output, Wisconsin, 2023

Sawlogs accounted for 43% of production and includes roundwood logs and bolts processed at sawmills into a variety of sawn products such as lumber, cants, squares and blanks. Red pine is the most commonly utilized species for sawlogs, accounting for approximately one-third of production. Red oak (18%) and sugar maple (11%) follow behind red pine in sawlog production.

Pulpwood accounted for 39% of production and includes roundwood logs, bolts and chips used in the manufacture of wood pulp for making paper and paperboard products. Many species are utilized for pulpwood including both soft (23%) and hard maple (15%), red (16%), white (6%) and jack (2%) pine, aspen (14%), and red (9%) and white (2%) oaks.

The third most common product made from roundwood are composite panels (13.5% of roundwood production), which include many different reconstituted wood products such as chip board, flake board, oriented strand board and various engineered lumber. The majority of composite panel roundwood is aspen (82%) with some basswood (14%) and other common hardwood species.

Wisconsin Projects Receive USDA Forest Service Wood Innovation Grants

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Scott Lyon, Wisconsin DNR Forest Products Team Leader

Wisconsin’s forest products industry will benefit from new federal investments through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s 2026 Wood Innovations Grant program. The Forest Service recently announced $105.5 million in grants nationwide to support wood products manufacturing, expand markets for wood and wood energy, strengthen rural economies and encourage innovative uses of America’s forest resources.

The Wood Innovations Program is designed to stimulate and expand markets for wood products and wood energy while supporting sustainable forest management. National priorities include mass timber, renewable wood energy, innovative wood products and technologies that can help reduce hazardous fuels and the costs of forest management.

Wisconsin recipients of the 2026 Wood Innovations awards include:

  • Cooper & Sons Timber, LLC, Blue River, Wisconsin: Upgrade sawmill processing technologies to increase production capacity in Wisconsin. $194,699
  • Timber Professionals Cooperative Enterprises, Tilleda, Wisconsin: Upgrade a chip mill to increase market access for low-value and small diameter timber to replace markets lost by papermill closures. $1,000,000
  • Bookends North, LLC, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Develop tools to increase domestic mass timber market adoption in student housing and provide markets for small-diameter timber. $157,875

The Great Lakes Mass Timber Collaborative also received funding through a partnership with Dovetail Partners in Minnesota. The collaborative works across the Great Lakes region to advance mass timber markets, manufacturing and building opportunities, helping strengthen the regional forest products economy.

Wisconsin is represented in this regional effort by DNR forest products specialist Alex Anderson, who serves as a member of the Great Lakes Mass Timber Collaborative. His participation provides a connection between Wisconsin’s forest products industry and regional efforts to expand mass timber markets, share expertise and identify opportunities for collaboration.

Together, these investments and partnerships demonstrate the importance of collaboration at the state, regional and federal levels to strengthen wood markets, support forest products businesses and increase the utilization of Wisconsin’s forest resources.

The Wisconsin DNR’s Forest Products Services team played a supporting role in the grant process. Drawing on the team’s extensive experience in forest products utilization, markets and manufacturing, DNR staff assisted Wisconsin applicants with proposal reviews and provided letters of support for their applications.

Following the announcement of the Wisconsin awards, the DNR Forest Products Services team will continue to support the recipients by providing technical assistance related to mill upgrades and other project improvements. This assistance will help Wisconsin businesses successfully implement their projects and maximize the benefits of these federal investments.

Through these efforts, the DNR is helping connect federal investment with Wisconsin’s forest products industry and ensuring that projects are supported by technical expertise in wood utilization, markets and manufacturing.

This collaboration between the US Forest Service and the DNR helps connect federal investments with local knowledge and technical expertise. The resulting projects have the potential to strengthen Wisconsin’s forest products infrastructure, improve the utilization of Wisconsin-grown wood and create new opportunities for the state’s forest economy.

The 2026 awards demonstrate the continued potential for innovation across Wisconsin’s forest products sector. By connecting forest resources with new products, technologies and markets, these projects can help strengthen the state’s forest products economy while contributing to healthy and sustainably managed forests.

If you have a potential future project idea, please feel free to connect with the Wisconsin DNR. For more information and the complete list of 2026 Wood Innovations recipients, visit the USDA Forest Service Wood Innovations Program.

Wisconsin Forest Products Industry Navigates Challenging Market Conditions

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Elle Soderberg, Wisconsin DNR Forest Products Specialist

Wisconsin’s forest products industry continues to navigate a challenging market environment as mills, loggers and other industry partners respond to changing demand, limited pulpwood markets and broader economic uncertainty.

The Wisconsin DNR Forest Products Services team regularly connects with forest industry partners throughout the state to better understand regional and statewide market conditions. Recent conversations indicate that while portions of the industry remain stable, pressure continues across several key markets.

One of the most significant challenges remains Wisconsin’s pulp and paper sector. Recent mill closures have reduced available outlets for pulpwood and disrupted traditional fiber flows. The Ahlstrom mill in Kaukauna has resumed purchasing wood, but volumes remain limited as the market continues to adjust following the closure of Ahlstrom’s pulp mill in Mosinee. Suppliers with established contracts have generally experienced typical seasonal fluctuations, while those displaced by mill closures have faced greater difficulty finding new markets.

Conditions in the hardwood lumber market also remain difficult. Timber is generally available, but mills report that log costs remain high relative to finished lumber prices. Weak housing and construction activity has further reduced demand for hardwood products traditionally used in flooring, cabinetry and trim. White oak has been particularly affected, with green 4/4 FAS white oak prices falling nearly 24% over the past year and approximately 30% compared with two years ago.

Logging operations continue to feel the effects of these market conditions. Limited pulpwood outlets, changing weather patterns, increased fuel prices, and workforce availability remain persistent concerns. Wisconsin has ample harvestable timber, but some landowners are finding it increasingly difficult to secure logging contractors, while reduced demand is limiting economically viable markets for harvested material.

There are, however, some positive market signals. Industry contacts reported stronger demand for hickory, cherry and hard maple, while some Wisconsin and Lake States producers have experienced improved export opportunities. Strong demand from European and Asian markets has helped certain producers offset weakness elsewhere in the market.

Other wood markets remain mixed. Hardwood pallet production continues to lose market share to softwood, creating concern about the stability of low-grade markets. Railroad tie demand is also expected to soften, with the Railroad Tie Association forecasting demand of approximately 19.7 million ties in 2026 and 19.2 million in 2027.

Looking ahead, Wisconsin’s forest products industry is expected to remain cautious. While some sectors are showing signs of stability or growth, overall activity remains below full capacity. Future conditions will depend heavily on pulpwood market adjustments, housing and construction activity, broader economic conditions and the industry’s ability to adapt to changing markets.