Underutilized Timber Species in Wisconsin: Exploring Potentials for Future Markets

Abstract

Over the last two decades, Wisconsin's forest products industry (FPI) supply chain has faced challenges leading to a decline in production. This trend has been exacerbated by the closure of forest product mills throughout the state, resulting in economic hardships for rural communities. Decreased demand has led to an oversupply of raw materials that cannot be economically processed. This surplus poses a notable challenge to Wisconsin's FPI. Our research addresses these challenges by identifying underutilized timber species and exploring strategies to bring them to market. Our study used various growth statistics to identify underutilized timber species and the most current available mill data to visualize mill coverages by log sort-species combination throughout Wisconsin. Our research aims to strengthen rural economies in Wisconsin by providing insight into the FPI’s current coverage while proposing new and innovative industries relevant to industry stakeholders.