BRIEF  SYNOPSIS OF WISCONSIN FOREST USE AND FOREST POLICY
FROM THE ERA OF FIRST EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT

The following, with one or two minor additions, is summarized from:
"History of the lake States forests: natural and human impacts," by Forest W. Stearns [ http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/gla/reports/history.htm ].
See also: "100 years of forest history," by Randall Rohe [ http://www.wnrmag.com/stories/2004/feb04/forest.htm ].
See also the excellent summary in the DNR publication, "A brief history of Wisconsin's forests."

The beginnings

Early Europeans had little direct impact on the forest in the 17th. and 18th C., although indirectly there must have been some (limited) impact as native populations were affected by contact.

In the Great Lakes region, as elsewhere, purchases and treaties added to the Public Lands from the late 18th.C. onwards.  Following the Public Land Act of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the Federal Land Survey divided this land into townships and sections;  in Wisconsin this started at Illinois State line in 1832 and worked its way north; much land found its way into the hands of railroad speculators and ultimately lumber companies. Federal land surveyors' notes at this time make it possible to reconstruct the "pre-settlement" forest types of the Great Lakes Region:

The "White Pine Era" (1830s - 1890-1910)

As eastern cities and towns expanded and settlement moved west, white pine was in great demand for building materials -- it was versatile and it was easily floated from woods to mill. By the 1840s stocks were running out in the east, and so attention turned to the Lakes Region.

Some logging took place in Wisconsin before land survey: for example sawmills were build at de Pere on the Fox River in 1809, on the Black River near Black River Falls in 1819, and on the Menominee River (Marinette Cnty.), the Red Cedar River, and the Wisconsin River (at Nekoosa) in 1831. In 1840 the first timber rafts on the Wisconsin River left Biron (Wisconsin Rapids), and in 1858 the first log drive on the upper Wisconsin River left Eagle River for Mosinee. First logs, then increasingly lumber was rafted out as more sawmills were established. Wood left Wisconsin via Lake Michigan or headed south towards St. Louis (and hence the Plains) on the Wisconsin-Mississippi system.

In 1867 the Wisconsin legislature established a Forestry Commission to study forest destruction.

"While supporting the explosive growth of the Midwest, the white pine era was one of increasingly rapid and often wasteful exploitation of the forest resource. On the pine lands, the impact of logging was amplified by frequent and often catastrophic wild fire."  Pestigo burned in 1871, as did Phillips in 1894 -- serious fires burned almost every decade through the 1930s.

From 1873 onwards,  railroads started to enter the logging areas, and the switch from river transport quickened as hardwood, which did not float well, began to replace pine in the 1890s (rail, often a lumber company's own narrow-gauge, remained the dominant mode of transport until road in the late 1940s). Between 1890 and 1910 almost all economic stands of pine had been cut or burned.

The Hemlock and Tan Bark Industry Era (1880s - 1920s)

Hemlock was of little value to loggers until its bark came into use in tanning. Stripping bark off hemlock became a summer occupation in logging camps. With an increasing livestock industry, Wisconsin became a major producer of leather -- by 1909 Milwaukee was one of the world's largest tanning centers.

"Hemlock reproduces irregularly and only under specific site and climatic conditions. So, it is probable that the heavy cutting of hemlock for tan bark may account in considerable measure for the absence of hemlock in large areas of today's forests."

The Hardwood Era and Railroading (1890s - 1930s)

Recognizing that pine was finished, lumber companies moved into commercial hardwood harvesting (or else picked up and moved out west). The variety of species was much greater than companies in the pine era had to deal with (maple, birch, ash, basswood, and elm). Rail became the dominant mode of transportation until the 1940s when trucks came to dominate.

Companies came to no longer operate their own lumber camps and used jobbers instead; but sometimes mobile rail camps were moved around. Clear-cutting remained the dominant mode of harvesting (although there were sustained yield experiments), and fires continued.

State and Federal Action (1900 - present)

As forest was cleared or burned over, or both, companies advertised "stump pasture" for sale as farm land -- the UW Extension provided research to assist in the process of clearing stumps as well as agronomy advice. However, more often than not, in remote northern locations, farms were uneconomic, and through the 1940s several northern counties, with State assistance, helped relocate remote farm families as they consolidated land into new "county" forests. In areas that were not taken up by farms, aspen, white birch, and cherry in many locations took the place of what had formerly been pine; in other places sugar maple became dominant.

In this era some of the first State and private attempts were made at reforestation and sustained yield. Some attempts failed or faded away, but in 1911 a nursery was established at Trout Lake which soon furnished seedlings to the State's "Star Lake Plantation" demonstration on cutover land (later incorporated into the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest). In 1925 Nekoosa Edwards Paper Co. started the first industrial forestry program and "industrial forests" would reach 800,000 acres in 1941, and 1.3 m acres in 1976. In 1923 the Lake States Forest Experiment Station (LSFES) was established in St. Paul, with a view to researching sustained yield forest culture, fires control, and forest economics.

In 1897 a State Forestry Commission was established "to devise ways to use the State's forests without harming the climate or water supplies, and to preserve these forest resources without retarding the State's economic development." In 1903 the State founded a Forestry Commission with the warrant to establish State forest reserves; E.M. Griffith was made the first State Forester in 1904: however, the State Supreme Court invalidated this Comprehensive Forestry Law and only limited activity was possible. A new law in 1924 was successful, allowing land acquisition and management, and the first State Forest was established in 1925 (Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest). With this, the pace of State action quickened, aided by the Federal Forest Service and various Depression-era programs (e.g. CCC). Research on reforestation techniques, species' requirements, and yields at LFSES and UW Madison helped establish more successful plantations (the US Forest Products Laboratory was established in Madison in 1910).

By 1929, abandoned farmland and cutover and burned lumber holdings were commonly delinquent in taxes, so much so that many counties found themselves in precarious financial circumstances. The Federal Forest Service and the State acquired areas of this land which was then reforested as pine plantations with the aid of new nurseries. In the 1920s onwards, the State legally assisted counties in establishing county forests, thus providing long-term income from tax-delinquent property (and thus stabilizing taxes on other properties). Today, 28 such forests exist, totaling 2.29 million acres. On private land, the State encouraged sound silviculture by providing tax relief in 1927 through the Forest Crop Law which permitted delayed payment of taxes on growing stands of timber, thus discouraging early cutting.

The 1911 Weeks Act and the Clarke/McNary Act of 1924 permitted the Forest Service to acquire land east of the Mississippi for National Forests. As with the State and counties, tax delinquent and worthless lands were acquired beginning in 1928 and the Nicolet and Chequamegon National Forests were established in 1933.

The Pulpwood Era (1940s - present)

In 1872 a pulp mill was established at Kaukana on the Fox River, and an integrated pulp and paper mill was built in Wisconsin Rapids in 1887. In 1911 North America's first integrated Kraft (sulfate) pulp and paper mill was built in Mosinee. By the 1950s pulp and paper and fiber-product manufacturers had acquired large holdings. Logging operations associated with pulp and paper manufacturing became highly mechanized and the work was done mainly by jobbers who commuted to work; camps were entirely gone by the 1950s.

New Demands

"The northern forests have been a popular recreation location ever since the mid-19th century. Resorts and cottages began to fringe our lakes as soon as the railroads made them accessible. The ease of automobile transportation plus the impact of tourist dollars has and is putting considerable stress on the forest environment, and if not better controlled, may destroy both its appeal and many of its functions.

"In the immediate future, prospects for the Lake States forests appear good. Growth exceeds wood removal, and most forest managers are giving attention to sustained management. New silvicultural approaches are being investigated, and the public is becoming better informed. Climatic change is probably the major threat, although, the simplification {lack of diversity] of the many [post-settlement] forest systems may produce unforeseen declines as may infestations of exotic insects and disease. Increasing human use, especially for housing sites, also pose short- and long-term dangers. Our forests are recovering from the destruction visited on them by fire and human need and greed. To continue to do so, they must be managed wisely and conservatively."

The DNR states: [ http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/forestry/StateForests/index.htm ]

"[State] forests are governed by Wisconsin Statute 28.04, which states that "The Department shall assure the practice of sustainable forestry and use it to assume that state forests can provide a full range of benefits for present and future generations." Within this statute 'sustainable forestry' is defined as the practice of managing dynamic forest ecosystems to provide ecological, economic, social, and cultural benefits for present and future generations.

 "In accordance with statute 28.04 the forests are managed for a combination of recreational opportunities, timber management and harvests, aesthetics, watershed protection, and as habitat for a variety of plant and animal species (some rare and endangered). The ultimate goal of this management is to benefit the people of Wisconsin, both those here today and those who will follow us. Department of Natural Resources managers use the principles of sustainable forestry to assure that the state forests can now and will continue to provide a full range of benefits. The benefits of the state forests are many and include soil protection, public hunting, protection of water quality, production of recurring forest products, outdoor recreation, native biological diversity, aquatic and terrestrial wildlife, and aesthetics."