Fuelwood production and sources in Wisconsin, 1981.

Abstract

Coarse (ehippable) residue constituted about 62 percent of the wood residue burned for fuel; the HIGHLIGHTS remainder was fines. • Industrial customers took three-fifths of the 1981 From Roundwood residue used for fuel; domestic (household) customers used the remainder. NEED FOR PRODUCTION STUDY Species.--Red oak and elm dominated the fuelwood harvest--they comprised 52 percent of the round°A study of Wisconsin fuelwood production in 1981 wood. Leading species cut were: was necessary to provide estimates of fuelwood pro-Species Volume Percent duction for the fourth Wisconsin forest inventory and (Thousand cords) to determine the impact of fuelwood production on the Red oak 526 28 forest resource. The 1979-1980consumption study only EIm 479 25 provided data for household users; information on Hard maple 179 9 production for industrial and other users was not Whiteoak 176 9 available. Twenty percent of the household fuel was Aspen 103 5 purchased, and no information was known on the White birch 98 5 timber sources and counties of origin for this material. Soft maple 85 4 Forest managers and users are now questioning the Ash 69 4 magnitude of the fuelwood harvest and the sources of No other species supplied more than 26,000 cords. the wood. How much fuelwood is harvested from Only 3 percent was softwoods; white, jack, and red forest land? Urban areas? Fence rows and wind-pine were the major species. breaks? Pastures and cropland? How much fuelwood comes from public land? Does most of the fuelwood Red oak was important for fuel in every Unit, come from growing stock? Are dead trees an impor-especially in the Central Unit where it provided tant source? Are loggers major producers of fuel-205,000 cords. Elm was a major contributor in every wood? What are the principal species cut? Where are Unit including 141,000 cords cut in the Southeast and the principal fuelwood-producing areas in Wisconsin? 124,000 cords cut in the Southwest. More than 50,000 Are saw log and pulpwood markets threatened by cords of hard maple came from each northern Unit. fuelwood producers? White oak cutting was concentrated in the Central and southern Units. To answer these and other related questions in Wisconsin, a cooperative study was completed in 1982 Private vs. public land.--Private land furnished 92 by the North Central Forest Experiment Station and percent of the fuelwood cut. Public land supplied a the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. significant quantity of fuelwood in the northern Units and a nominal amount in the southern Units: ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION From Roundwood Unit Private Public (Thousand cords) Northeastern 264 56 Geographic source.--Central and Southeastern Northwestern 200 70 Wisconsin supplied one-half of the 1.916 million cords Central 470 23 of fuelwood harvested in 1981. No Survey Unit con-Southwestern 362 3 tributed less than 14 percent. Counties each produc-Southeastern 465 3 ing more than 50,000 cords (in order of importance) were Marathon, Outagamie, Oneida, Sheboygan, All 1,761 155 Grant, Eau Claire, and ...