MANAGED FORESTRY

In the 20 years between 1935 and 1955, timber volumes in Michigan’s upper peninsula decreased, while during this time sawtimber volumes in the lower peninsula increased substantially.
    Why the difference? The bottom of the sawtimber supply barrel in the (northern) lower peninsula had been reached a number of years earlier and industrial activity and sawtimber demand had dried up. Early cutting and fires had been much worse there, but still the forests came back. After the big mills were gone, the timber grew, while in the UP aggressive demand and cutting continued to seek out the remaining old growth and good quality wherever it existed, cutting at a rate much faster than wood was being replaced by growth of the remnants and young trees in second growth stands. But here the comparison ends. The bottom of the barrel was never reached in the UP, and consequently industrial activity and demand did not disappear. Yet a dramatic change did occur. Shortly after 1930, some of the large forest landowners began to make conscientious efforts to adopt improved management practices in cutting old growth stands. To the extent possible under local conditions, a growing forest was left after the oldest trees were removed. This practice is called "selective management," and from that time on it had spread in use to more and more lands. These lands, even though recently cut (selectively) have in many cases produced a second crop, and will continue to do so at regular, fairly short intervals. This is the essence of good hardwood management, and the foundation of the recovery of the Upper Peninsula’s forest wealth.
    Today, Michigan's forestry industry is dominated by privately-owned lumber and paper companies.  Mead and Champion are two of the largest, and together they own many thousands of acres of forest throughout Michigan (but especially in the UP).  

Parts of the text above have been paraphrased from C.M. Davis’ Readings in the Geography of Michigan (1964).

This material has been compiled for educational use only, and may not be reproduced without permission.  One copy may be printed for personal use.  Please contact Randall Schaetzl (soils@msu.edu) for more information or permissions.