Last week shortly after the Governor signed the MFL change bill (now Act 358), the DNR sent an e-mail to the forestry community highlighting the changes and their implications. The two attached referenced in the e-mail are linked in the text. Council Members and Interested Parties, Yesterday Governor Walker signed into law ACT 358 […]
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This afternoon the Governor signed SB434, which made several significant changes to the Managed Forest Law that will affect landowners, local government, industry, DNR, and others. The description at the preceding link covers many of the notable changes, though landowners will need to be more attentive in overseeing management on their land as certain DNR […]
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The median wage for logging equipment operators in the Lake States ranged from $13.42 per hour to $15.67 in 2014. Median wages for fallers ranged from $12.76 to $22.14 per hour. This summary reflects data collected and publicly available from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Across the three-state region, median wages were consistent highest […]
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“Picture a savanna with lush grass, a herd of grazing animals, and scattered trees. Silvopasture is a farming system modeled on savannas that integrates tree, grass, and livestock production. In many parts of the world, farmers and foresters find that combining grazing animals with woodlands or tree plantations can improve both tree growth and milk or meat production.” […]
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Loggers play an essential role in forestry and local economies. They are also important forest stewards that shape the forest for today and tomorrow. This extension reports on the status of Wisconsin’s logging sector based on data collected in 2004 and 2011. It covers production capacity, profitability, workers, and considerations for the future. Citation: Rickenbach, M., […]
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Does the feedstock affect how people evaluate bioenergy? Bioenergy has been viewed as a positive development in terms of energy independence and mitigating climate change impacts. It may provide economic returns to landowners and local communities by providing additional revenue opportunities to traditional industries. In this study, we investigated how framing affect perception. In particular, […]
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In Wisconsin, there are over 300,000 woodland owners. Only 30,000 or so are enrolled in the Managed Forest Law program. The MFL has a timber focus, which might make it unappealing to some. Also, society values other forest benefits, often called “ecosystem services”. To study this, we surveyed non-MFL enrolled landowners to assess their willingness […]
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Forests cover roughly 16 million acres (> 25,000 square miles) in Wisconsin: larger than the entire state of West Virginia. Who owns all that forestland? It is a mix of private and public owners ranging from the USDA Forest Service managing over 1 million acres to families and individuals owning 30 or 40 acres. The […]
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Forestry and wood products are big business in Wisconsin. How big? Total 2012 output totaled nearly $23 billion with employment of more than 59,000, according to WDNR forest economist, Julie Ballweg. Additionally, forestry is the number one employer in SEVEN counties. To learn which ones (and other interesting statistics) or to DOWNLOAD statewide or county specific […]
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My last post included a number of forestry-related impacts of the Governor’s proposed 2015-2017 budget. One of those impacts was a change in Managed Forest Law cutting notice approval. On Saturday the Wisconsin State Journal published an article about this proposed change.
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