Forests

Minnesota's trees and forests

  • 53 native tree species
  • 17.7 million acres Forest land (all ownerships)
  • 4.2 million acres Forestry-administered state land
  • 738,000 acres State land administered by forestry outside of state forests

Managing public lands

State forest recreation:

  • 60 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

  • $17.2 billion Forest products annual economic impact (2019)
  • 64,000 jobs Forestry products annual employment impact (2019)
  • Commercially productive forest land* (2019)
    • Total – 15.8 million acres
    • State – 3.7 million or 23%
    • Federal – 1.9 million acres or 12%
    • County and municipal – 2.5 million acres or 16%
    • Private/Tribal/Industry – 7.7 million acres or 49%
  • Timber harvested (2018)
    • Total – 2,814,000 cords
    • State – 754,600 cords, 27%
    • Federal/Bureau of Indian Affairs – 283,200 cords, 10%
    • County and municipal – 690,400 cords, 25%
    • Private – 856,700 cords, 25%
    • Industry – 229,000 cords, 8%

*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 – 24,000 acres
    • Seeding – 3,400 acres
    • Planting – 2,900 acres
    • Trees planted in 2021 – 2,100,000

*2017-2021, 2020 reforestation was significantly reduced due to COVID-19

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

  • 820 wildfires fought annually, affecting 16,676 acres (2013-2022)

Education

(Updated 2022)