Forest products

USDA Forest Service Requests Proposals for Wood Innovations Grants

Posted on by akabelowsky
A stack of logs

A stack of logs guards an old conifer seed orchard near Lake Tomahawk in the Town of Hazelhurst in 2024. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service today announced up to $95 million in competitive grant funding through its Wood Innovations program for projects that advance innovative wood uses, expand wood-based construction, and grow U.S. wood energy markets and forest product processing capacity.

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2026 Wisconsin Forest Products Market Update

Posted on by akabelowsky
photo of lumber at a mill.

Lumber is produced at a mill. / Photo Credit: Twin Oaks Lumber

By Elle Soderberg, DNR Forest Products Specialist

​The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Forest Products Services team ​would like to share some perspectives based on our conversations with forest products industry contacts and information sources. Our goal in sharing these informational updates is to provide material to help you understand how the state’s forest products industry is being impacted, not only by market/seasonal trends, but also by major announcements (e.g., mill closures, expansions, economic factors, etc.).

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Wisconsin DNR’s Forest Regeneration Monitoring Program

Posted on by akabelowsky
Workers learn about FRM data collection.

New hires familiarize themselves with FRM data collection. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Gabe Spangler, DNR Forest Regeneration Monitoring Coordinator

The Forest Regeneration Monitoring (FRM) program was initiated to better assess the status of naturally regenerating forests across the state and to provide data on forest regeneration success or failure in relation to deer herd population density across Wisconsin. Previous forest monitoring methods were not intensive enough to tell a precise, county-level story of the impacts of deer browse (herbivory) on forest regeneration or the quality of the forest habitat available to deer.

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New Publication Highlights Technology, Training Needs in Northeastern Lumber Drying Operations

Posted on by akabelowsky

Cover of Forest Products JournalBy Scott Lyon, DNR Forest Products Team Leader

A new study published in the Forest Products Journal by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension, the United States Forest Service and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources examined dry kiln operations across the northeastern and north-central United States.

The research explored current technology use, production practices, and workforce training needs in the hardwood lumber drying industry, with the goal of helping training providers and industry leaders better tailor education and support to real-world operating conditions.

The survey found that most firms dry a wide range of hardwood species, reflecting the region’s diverse forest resources. Eastern white pine was the only softwood species dried by a majority of respondents. While species diversity was common across operations, the study revealed a clear divide between small and large kiln facilities in technology use, investment plans, and quality-control practices.

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USDA Timber Industry Program Aims To Revitalize Rural Economies

Posted on by akabelowsky
A worker measures the diameter of a tree stem.

A USDA Forest Service timber cruiser measures a tree. The TPEP is a cooperative effort with the USDA Forest Service and USDA Rural Development. / Photo Credit: Lance Cheung, USDA

By United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service

Note: The Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program (TPEP) provides funding to eligible applicants to establish, reopen, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood-processing facility that processes ecosystem restoration byproducts from National Forest System lands.

The reopening last year of a sawmill in Tilleda, Wisconsin, one of the many recently shuttered sawmills in rural Wisconsin, is a signal of hope for the challenged forest products industry everywhere. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development (RD) would like to see more mills brought back to life here with funding through its Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program (TPEP).

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USDA Forest Products Lab Offers Newsletter

Posted on by akabelowsky

logoThe United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory, based in Madison, is now offering a free newsletter to interested subscribers.

The newsletter covers a variety of topics related to forest products research and can be accessed online on the USDA Forest Service website.

To sign up for the newsletter, go to the bottom of the linked webpage under the heading “Sign Up for Our Newsletter” and enter your contact information.

Hardwood Lumber Risk Assessment: Wisconsin Very Low-risk

Posted on by akabelowsky
A truck hauls logs out of a site.

A truck hauls logs out of a site. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

The American Hardwood Assured framework provides a means of determining “jurisdictional risk assessment of legal compliance.”

Wisconsin’s results are positive and indicate a low level of risk in the forestry, logging, and forest products sectors.

To read the full results for Wisconsin and other states, visit the Risk Assessments webpage.

 

Forest Products Services Calendar Of Events

Posted on by akabelowsky
  • Various panels of cross-laminated timber, made from Eastern white pine grown in Wisconsin by Michigan Technological University, awaits a return trip to Madison, Wisconsin, for testing at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory.

    Various panels of cross-laminated timber, made from Eastern white pine grown in Wisconsin by Michigan Technological University, awaits a return trip to Madison, Wisconsin, for testing at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

    Lake States Lumber Association 2026 Trainings (visit their website as dates near for more information):

    • Topic: LSLA Ed. OSHA Safety Class. When: May 15.
    • Topic: LSLA Ed. Lumber Grading. When: July 27-29.
    • Topic: LSLA Ed. Sawing, Edging And Trimming. When: July 30.
  • Great Lakes Kiln Drying Association Kiln Drying Course:
    • When: Aug. 11-13
  • WI DNR Forest Products Services Webinar Series:

Biophilic Design & Urban Wood

Posted on by janness

By Dwayne Sperber, Wudeward Urban Forest Products

Trees grow, change and like all living things, eventually decline or die. Sometimes trees are removed from urban areas due to safety concerns, tree health or insufficient space. But when these urban and community trees are viewed not as waste, but as a valuable material resource, their story doesn’t end – it continues.

By transforming fallen trees into urban wood products, we can extend the benefits of living trees into the places we live, work and play. These materials – lumber, furniture, architectural woodwork – quietly connect us to nature. This is the basis of biophilic design, the concept of connecting humans to the natural environment.

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Tech Ed Teachers Attend Wood Industry Course At New Training Sawmill

Posted on by akabelowsky

Scott Lyon operates the optimized headsaw during a wood industry course at Northcentral Technical College in Antigo. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

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

In case you missed the news, Wisconsin is now home to a one-of-a-kind training facility that offers courses utilizing a newly completed state-of-the-art sawmill.

The Northcentral Technical College (NTC)-Wood Technology Center of Excellence in Antigo designed and offered an exciting course aimed at reaching the future workforce of our industry. Technology Education teachers from high schools around Wisconsin received a two-day immersion into the world of sawmilling, kiln drying, and much more.

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