Forests

Minnesota is home to the nation's:
-largest jack pine: 56' tall, 116" circumference, 61' crown spread, Lake Bronson State Park
-largest white spruce: 130' tall, 125" circumference, 28' crown spread, near Littlefork
-the famous Witch tree located near Lake Superior

DNR Forestry has annually provided 700 assists to communities in the management of their urban forests by providing matching grants, sharing technical expertise, and promoting tree planting care and appreciation. More than 130 Minnesota communities have attained national recognition as Tree City USAs.

Minnesota DNR is a national forerunner in developing techniques to control and suppress forest fires.

Forest land: 16.3 million acres

State forests: 58 (covering 3.9 million acres)

State land outside of state forests: 600,000 acres

DNR Nurseries:
2 (covering 566 acres)
Seeded 112 acres
Seed orchards 60 acres (8 species)
Seedlings shipped 10 million

Commercial produced forest land:
Total - 15,112,728 acres
State - 4,123,337 acres or 27 percent
Federal - 2,012,461 acres or 13 percent
County and municipal - 1,998,137 acres or 13 percent
Private - 5,814,392 acres or 39 percent
Industry - 1,164,401 acres or 8 percent

Timber harvested (2002): 40,000 acres (798,000 cords)

State land reforestation in 2007:
Natural - 18,134 acres
Seeding - 5,477 acres
Planting - 6,584 acres
Trees planted - 4,805,134

Private land reforestation in 2007:
Natural - 2,412 acres
Seeding and planting (over 20 acres) - 6,653 acres
Trees planted - 3,991,800

Acres covered by forest Stewardship Plans (through February 2008):
1.3 million acres

Wildfires fought annually: 1,500 (30,000 to 35,000 acres burned)

Outdoor forest classrooms: 100 (7,200 acres)

Forest products annual economic impact: $6-7 billion

Native tree species: 52

State forest roads: 2,000 miles

State forest campgrounds: 46

State forest trails: 1,200 miles

(Updated 2008)