Minnesota is home to 17.6 million acres of forest land. Sustainable forest management is vitally important to keep forests, the environment, and local economies thriving. The vast majority of forest management is accomplished through timber sales and harvest, so a robust local timber market producing consumer goods is essential to ensure harvesting is available as a key tool to keep forests healthy and resilient.
DNR’s Utilization and Marketing Program supports the state’s wood-based economy by:
Providing the most current data and analysis about Minnesota's forests and wood product industries.
Assisting businesses that make products from wood fiber, wood energy, and decorative materials.
Conveying technical information, trends, and technologies about wood to help market forest products and mill residues.
Connecting industries and partners to grants, incentives, and funding opportunities.
Growing a market for wood that originates from Minnesota forests managed to be healthy, resilient, productive, and renewable, while providing habitat, climate change alleviation, recreation, clean water, and more for all Minnesotans.
Renewable products rooted in Minnesota forests
“Buy local” is a popular concept with benefits like supporting nearby communities and families and adding meaning to the products themselves. It can relate to forest products grown sustainably in Minnesota, too.
The state’s forest products industry supports more than 72,000 jobs across Minnesota. It adds over $25 billion in total economic output, and is the only economic sector in the state to absorb more greenhouse gas emissions than it emits. Forest products are by nature renewable and can replace materials more energy and resource-intensive to produce. With today’s technology, innovation and the breadth of forest products, all parts of a tree can be used – sometimes in surprising ways.
Everyday products from Minnesota forests include:
Pulp and paper
Engineered wood products (OSB, siding)
Lumber, cabin logs, building timbers
Posts, poles, fencing, lath
Pallets, paneling, flooring
Animal bedding, mulch, erosion control wood wool (excelsior)
Dissolved wood pulp for clothing
Chemicals used in health and beauty products
Specialty wood products (such as live edge slabs)
The Utilization and Marketing Program provides information, data, and marketing assistance to forest-based industries, public and private entities, and individuals. We strive to create new opportunities through collaboration and identify emerging markets that fit our forest resource and sustainable management goals.
Sign up for DNR Utilization and Marketing emails, where you will receive monthly updates on:
Available grants, incentives, surveys, and training for primary wood manufacturers.
Forest industry news and resources.
- Wood industry directories
Interactive Map of Primary Minnesota Mills - mapping tool connects buyers of wood and paper products to Minnesota's primary mills and assists forest managers and loggers in identifying wood markets.
Minnesota Primary Forest Products Producer Directory - lists sawmills, pulp and paper mills, oriented-strand board mills, veneer mills, and dry-kiln facilities in Minnesota.
- Twin Cities wood utilization information
Twin Cities Sawmill and Dry Kiln Listing—This listing includes sawmills and dry kilns that serve the Twin Cities metro area, some of which use small volumes of urban wood.
Is My Yard Tree Valuable as Timber? - helps landowners determine the value of their yard trees.
Nebraska Forest Service Urban Lumber Production - outlines urban wood study findings and provides urban wood utilization information applicable to MN.
Dovetail Partners Establishing an Urban Wood Use Program an Introduction - flyer talks about urban wood use's economic and environmental benefits and arborists' markets for woody residues from urban and community trees.
- Marketing assistance for wood-based businesses
The Wood Product Business Assistance Directory - helps Minnesota's small and medium-sized wood product businesses find technical assistance in marketing, financing, and general business areas.
Business Management Practice for Small to Medium-Sized Forest Product Firms—This publication provides an easy-to-use guide for business management in the forest products industry.
International Marketing Practices for Small to Medium-Sized Forest Products Firms—This course helps small-to-medium-sized forest products companies successfully enter foreign markets with their products.
- Information and reports on forest resources, industry and wood utilization
Minnesota's Forest Resources is an annual publication that provides information on Minnesota's forest resources and forest industry and the trends impacting them.
Minnesota Residential Fuelwood Survey is part of a long-term effort to monitor trends in the use of fuelwood by residential households and the impact of fuelwood on timber harvest levels.
Forest Products Industries' Economic Contributions in the Northeast and Midwest—a report that includes MN as one of 20 northeastern midwest states to show primary and secondary forest product industries' economic impacts region-wide utilizing 2017 IMPLAN data.
Forest Products Industries' Economic Contributions Minnesota Report - includes the lake states primary and secondary forest product industries' economic impacts utilizing 2017 IMPLAN data.
Forest Product Industries' Economic Contributions Minnesota Fact Sheet- highlights from Forest Products Industries' Economic Contribution: Minnesota report.
Emerging Market Opportunities for Minnesota's Forest Products Industry - white paper done by the Great Plains Institute on recommendations for Minnesota to increase market opportunities for the forest products industry.
- Wood Utilization Technical Guides
Grade Sawing - WI DNR forest products technical guide on sawing logs for grade lumber.
Edging and Trimming - WI DNR forest products technical guide on edging and trimming lumber.
Air Drying Lumber - WI DNR forest products technical guide on air drying lumber.
- Forest Decorative Material Information
Minnesota Decorative Materials Directory - (updated 2022) lists some harvesters and purchasers of special (nontimber) forest products in Minnesota, including boughs, spruce tops, seeds, berries, and decoratives.
Trees and treetops - information on decorative trees or treetops permits and buyer's license requirements
Boughs - information on decorative bough permits and buyer's license requirements
Poles - information on decorative poles, fine woody stem permits and buyers license requirements.
Taking Balsam Boughs: Minnesota's Balsam Bough Industry - describes balsam bough harvesting and permit requirements.
Balsam Bough Regulations: Pocket Guide - offers a portable version of balsam bough regulations.
Minnesota Harvester Handbook - a University of MN Extension guide to the sustainable gathering of nontraditional or decorative forest products.
- Utilization and Marketing staff
Vacant, Timber Utilization and Marketing Program Coordinator
Jeremy Fauskee, Timber Utilization and Marketing Consultant, 218-220-7094
Katie Gray, Timber Program Supervisor, 651-259-5289