WI Lumber Industry! Geography and historical significance of the WI timber industry. Wide range of wood products and their manufacturing centers. Direction of water flow – benefit

Vegetation Vegetation – plant cover Vast forests of conifer (softwood evergreen)trees in the north. White pine being the most notable Some hardwood trees Prairies (few trees), savannas (grassland with trees), and forests of deciduous (hardwood trees) in the south. Oaks and maples Tensions zone Transition area from deciduous trees in the south to mainly conifer trees in the north

Industry In the state’s early years, logging was the largest/most famous WI industry. Lumber barons (entrepreneurs dominated the industry)were made fabulously wealthy. Lumber (wood used as building material) encouraged the northward extension of rail lines and the establishment of milling and manufacturing centers.

Collapse Some of the previously forested regions have been logged (cut), resulting in fewer or smaller trees today. Much of the northern third was left clear. State instituted conservation practices to ensure that some forests could grow back.

Timber Conservation 1800s industry used extremely wasteful practices in harvesting and processing timber. Clear-cut regardless of their quality Milling process wasted huge amounts of sawdust. Fire/waste => 40% of timber resources never reached sawmills. Left behind huge amounts of dry wood and brush piles, which often caught fire in times of drought. Peshtigo Fire in 1871

Conservation continued… Menominee Indians Established their own timber industry in 1854 on their reservation. Instead of clear-cutting, they used sustainable practices Cut only a portion of their timber at a time, allowing it to grow back before it was cut again. Today, the tribe’s logging and milling industry is world famous.

Conservation continued… 1930s – state and federal governments began to adopt conservation practices. Established state parks Regulated timber harvests in state and national parks. Initiated reforestation (seedling planting) projects Few patches of old-growth white pine still stand in WI Cathedral Pines (Oconto County) In Lake Superior, some firms are attempting to harvest old white pine submerged near the mouths of rivers and selling the high-quality wood at high prices.