Forests

Minnesota's trees and forests

  • 53 native tree species

  • 17.7 million acres forest land (all ownerships)

  • 4.3 million acres forestry-administered state land

  • 769,761 acres state land administered by forestry outside of state forests

Managing public lands

State forest recreation:

  • 60 state forests

  • 2,384 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

  • $25.6 billion: Forest products annual economic impact (2023)

  • 72,635 jobs: Forestry products annual employment impact (2023)

  • Commercially productive forest land* (2024)

    • Total – 15.8 million acres

    • State – 3.8 million or 24%

    • Federal – 1.8 million acres or 11%

    • County and municipal – 2.5 million acres or 16%

    • Private/Tribal/Industry – 7.7 million acres or 49%

  • Timber harvested (2024)

    • Total – 2,656,700 cords

    • State – 640,000 cords, 24%

    • Federal/Bureau of Indian Affairs – 247,500 cords, 9%

    • County and municipal – 619,800 cords, 23%

    • Private – 1,028,700 cords, 39%

    • Industry – 120,700 cords, 5%

*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.

Planning for the future

  • Minnesota State Forest Nursery:

    • Seeded – 80 acres

    • Seed orchards – 54 acres (7 species)

    • Seedlings shipped – 3-6 million each year

  • Reforestation on DNR-managed land:

    • Natural Regeneration – 23,789 average acres between FY21-25

    • Planting and seeding – 6337 acres average acres between FY21-25

    • Trees planted in 2026 – 2,600,000

Private forest stewardship

  • 1,003,000 acres – private forests with a woodland stewardship plan written in the past 10 years(2022)

  • 101,000 acres – woodland stewardship plans acres written and reported to the DNR between July 1, 2021 and July 1, 2022

Community Forestry

  • DNR Forestry has annually provided 242 assists to communities in the management of their urban forests by providing matching grants, sharing technical expertise, and promoting tree planting care and appreciation.

  • 113 Minnesota communities have attained national recognition as Tree City USAs.

Managing wildfires

  • 1,219 wildfires annually, affecting 19,425 acres (10-year average 2016-2025)

Education

(Updated 2026)

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