Forests

Minnesota's trees and forests

  • 53 native tree species
  • 17.4 million acres Forest land (all ownerships)
  • 4.2 million acres Forestry-administered state land
  • 712,600 acres State land administered by forestry outside of state forests

Managing public lands

State forest recreation:

  • 59 state forests
  • 2,377 miles state forest roads
  • 43 State forest campgrounds, 12 state forest horse campgrounds, and 29 forest day-use areas
  • 1,200 miles state forest trails

Timber sales

  • $17.8 billion Forest products annual economic impact (2017)
  • 64,500 jobs Forestry products annual employment impact (2017)
  • Commercially productive forest land* (2016)
    • Total – 15.1 million acres
    • State – 2.8 million or 18.5 percent
    • Federal – 1.9 million acres or 12.6 percent
    • County and municipal – 2.4 million acres or 15.9 percent
    • Private/Tribal/Industry – 8.0 million acres or 53 percent
  • Timber harvested (2014)
    • Total – 2,885,000 cords
    • State – 816,000 cords, 28.3 percent
    • Federal – 240,000 cords, 8.3 percent
    • County and municipal – 703,000 cords, 24.4 percent
    • Private/Tribal/Industry – 1,126,000 cords, 39 percent

Planning for the future

  • Minnesota State Forest Nursery:
    • 1 (covering 150 acres)
    • Seeded 80 acres
    • Seed orchards - 54 acres (7 species)
    • Seedlings shipped - 3-6 million
  • State land reforestation: (five-year average, 2014-2018)
    • Natural Regeneration – 21,000 acres
    • Seeding – 4,500 acres
    • Planting – 3,900 acres
    • Trees planted in 2019 – 2,000,000

Private forest stewardship**

  • 895,000 acres woodland stewardship plans reported to the DNR (2019)
  • 149,000 acres woodland stewardship plans acres written and reported to the DNR between July 1, 2017 and July 1, 2018

Community Forestry

  • DNR Forestry has annually provided 228 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 100 Minnesota communities have attained national recognition as Tree City USAs.

Managing wildfires

  • 1562 fires (39,827 acres) Wildfires fought annually (2005-2017)

Education

*Commercially productive forest land is defined as land potentially available for harvest and capable of growing greater than or equal to 20 cubic feet of wood per acre per year.

**Woodland Stewardship Plans expire in 10 years.

(Updated 2019)