Why

Wisconsin is home to 16 million acres of forests, which cover nearly half of the state. Throughout history, forests have played a primary role in supporting our people, and as our demands have changed so have the forests. In Wisconsin the forest products industry, as well as forest-based recreation, have been essential to the success of our state and local economies.

We depend on forest ecosystem functions to sustain our families. In fact, we use more wood by weight than all other raw materials (plastics, steel, aluminum, concrete) combined! Each day we consume about 4.5 pounds of wood through use of nearly 5,000 wood-based products available to us. Maybe it’s time we celebrated this dependence on such a great renewable resource!

Despite our reliance on forest resources, many citizens of Wisconsin do not fully understand how the trees are harvested and maintained, and what it means to practice “sustainable forestry”.

The goal of the forestry center is to help the people of Wisconsin understand the win-win stories of this sustainable management and invite them to consider all the ways that forests contribute to the quality of life in Wisconsin.