Pre Cut-over
Cut-over
Survey
Values Change
Trends and
Projections of WI forests
Acreage and
Volume
See a timeline
http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/gla/reports/history.htm#wievents
Pre cut-over
Indigenous people
were forest managers through burning, hunting and trapping,
foraging, mining, trail building, agriculture and placement of
settlements.
Treaties of the
1800s opened Wisconsin up to intensive European American
settlement. At this time (1825 � 1880) forests covered between 22
and 30 million acres, 63 � 86% of the state.
According to the US Census there were approximately 305,391 people
in Wisconsin in 1850, 194,000 of them born in Wisconsin. By 1880
there were 1,315,497 people in Wisconsin.
Cutover
By the late 1800s
the management of southern forests included clearing many of them so
their fertile soil could be used for agriculture.
�Logging
became an important component of Wisconsin�s economy in the late
1860s following the Civil War.�
By the early 1900s northern forests were heavily cut for timber to
develop Midwest cities and provide homes for the growing
population. This period is known as the �cutover�. Almost all
mature trees we see today are less than 125 years old.
During this period the science of forestry had not been developed.
No one thought there would ever be an end to the timber.The
management used during the cutover could be characterized by a lack
of forethought. Except for a few people such as Increase Lapham who
predicted the devastation of the state�s forets.
Survey
In 1898 the federal
government conducted a survey of WI northern forests. B.E. Fernow,
a surveyor, wrote that 8 million of 17 million acres of forest are
�cut over� lands. By the 1930s most of the valuable timber in the
north had been removed or destroyed by fire. Some of the land had
been clear cut, but most of it had been high-graded. 
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/forestry/look/assessment/14-20.pdf
The largest and most
valuable trees were removed, leaving less dominant species and
individuals to reseed an area. After the cutover, problems such as
forest fires occurred and a large amount of land was sold by timber
companies. Management changed on many of these lands from timber
cutting to being subdivided and used for farmland by immigrants.
Values change
In 1904 the state
began to purchase land for state-owned forest preserves. Despite
some controversy by local governments over loss of tax base, concern
for conservation of the forest resource began to emerge. In 1924
the state constitution was amended to allow state funds to go to
acquisition, development, and preservation of forest resources. The
Forest Crop law passed in 1927 made it easier for private landowners
and counties to conserve forest resources for future use. County
forests were created from much of the tax delinquent land of failed
farms. The Public began to value fire control.
Civilian
Conservation Corps influenced Wisconsin forest management in the
1930s and 40s by fighting fires, planting trees, building park
buildings, and working on other conservation projects.
The cutover era had
dramatically changed the composition, structure, and function of
Wisconsin�s forests.
A forest inventory
in 1936 revealed very young forests with aspen-birch being the most
prevalent type. There was a better understanding of the need to
conserve forest resources and employ sound forest management.
Where we are now
Since the cutover era, Wisconsin�s forests have recovered
dramatically. The state now supports a wide array of healthy forest
ecosystems.
