HISTORY OF MICHIGAN'S FORESTRY INDUSTRY
Following European settlement, the primeval forests of Michigan were quickly exploited,
first for pine and later for hardwoods. Intense and
extensive logging of the white and red pine stands in central and northern Lower Michigan,
and later in the Upper Peninsula, had drawn to a close by 1900, leaving behind a legacy of
impoverished, stump-filled wastelands. Although most of
the pine was used for construction lumber, the hardwoods were used for such specific
purposes as the manufacture of fine furniture. The
large-scale commercial destruction of the pine stands and the local, less-organized
cutting of the hardwood forests left very little primeval forest standing. Thus, nearly
every woodlot or forest stand on the present Michigan landscape has been disturbed; in
many cases, this disturbance brought about several changes in the composition of the
woodland, but in others, the stand may be made up much as the ancestral forest was. For
example, we know that the impact was greatest on the drier (sandier) sites, which were
subjected to the most severe exploitation--the pinelands. So, northern Lower Peninsula
forests today are dominated by birch, aspen, oak, and jack pine
and bear only a distant resemblance to their primeval state, whereas the composition of
hardwood stands may be quite close to the original.
The fact that nearly all current Michigan forests are at least
second-growth and have been subjected to repeated episodes of cutting or grazing means
that the forest landscape today is certainly not the primeval forest that confronted the
early settlers. However, the enclaves of uncut forest that do remain--such as Hartwick
Pines, Estivant Pines, and the Sylvania tract--also contain evidence of prehistoric
disturbances such as fires or storms. Thus, European settlement did not introduce
disturbance into the forests, but it did usher in an era in which the extent and degree of
forest alteration were greater than before, and extensive second-growth forests have been
created that have no known prehistoric analogue.
There have, in effect, been three phases of change in
Michigan’s forest land: (1) harvesting of virgin forests from about 1830 to the
late 19th century, (2) regrowth of cleared land, including replanting and dedication of
large tracts of land to permanent forest preserves, (3) management of forests for multiple
uses, and the conversion of rural lands that surround forests into more intensely
developed uses.
Phase 1: Harvesting of
virgin forests: It took the incentive of offering public land for
sale to really get Michigan's logging started. The Federal government offered 2 million
acres of land to the state the cash that it’s sale brought in was to be used for
internal improvements. To help build schools, proceeds from the sale of section 16 in
every township went to schools. Six million acres were also given to the state because the
feds viewed the land as "Swamp Lands". After the lands had been sold, the state
enacted a property tax to get revenue. People bought timbered land for 5-10 cents for 40
acres, logged it, and left the land tax delinquent. The state was in trouble because now
it "inherited" all this tax delinquent land and had no use for it. Eventually,
the land was sold to homesteaders, but some was unfit for agriculture and eventually went
delinquent again.
Phase 2: regrowth/replanting of cleared
land, and dedication of large tracts of land to permanent
forest preserves: Lumber production in Michigan peaked in 1888 (over 4 billion
board feet). Michigan soon realized that some land must be preserved for the common good,
esp that land that had little value to private individuals (like wet, sandy land, swamps,
etc.). In the 1920's and 1930's, the US Government started a "resettlement
program" which provided for direct purchase of marginal ag land and resettled those
people onto more productive lands. Most of the purchased land was set aside for National
or State forests. Some land swapping occurred between state and fed, moving state forest
land to national forest land, and vice versa. Many of these lands were then reforested by
the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). During the depression, tax-delinquent lands were
aplenty, and the state bought up more of them and made them state lands. In the 1940's,
the state realized that most of its land was in the northern 2/3 of the state, so it
started to buy up marginal lands in the southern 1/3 for state game and state rec areas.
These types of purchases continue today. Purchases for state and national forests also
continue today (over 200,000 acres additional between 1980 and 1993). State lands account
for 59% of all public lands. Reforestation is occurring in Michigan. From 1952-92,
timberland increased 9.6% annually. Most of the forested land in MI is in the UP and
northern lower peninsula. Forested land in the lower peninsula continues to increase due
to abandoned farmland reforestation.
Source: Unknown
Source: Unknown
Phase 3: management of forests for
multiple uses; conversion of rural lands to intense
uses: Forest fragmentation, along with an overall increase in forest acreage,
has created changes in Michigan’s forest environment: promoted deer populations and
some song bird populations, while other animals have declined because of insufficient
acreage (large tracts).
In Michigan, white and red pine, and
hemlock, were logged first, from 1870 to about 1930. Hardwood logging began after 1910,
and reached low ebb in the 1930's. The hardwood logging never really reached the bottom
that was predicted for it, and although it has made relatively small gains since the low
of 1932, it is quite apparent now that it will go no lower, but should climb with the
recovery of the forests.
After the early logging came fires in many
areas, and both fire and sweat cleared some of the better lands for agriculture. Some of
the logged areas burned over several times, completely eliminating sources of seed for new
forest growth, and destroying the topsoil. These areas are still covered mainly with
stumps, grass, bracken fern, and occasional brush. Where fires were less severe, new crops
of trees appeared, but of different species which follow fires--aspen, white birch, and
jack pine. Since the late 1930's there have been few major fires, and very few new stands
of these trees have been started. Areas lightly burned after logging, or not burned at
all, sprouted up to new, young forests of hardwoods and pine, but intense competition and
the effects of severe damage have slowed the recovery. In too many areas unwanted, low
quality trees were left following logging, further impeding the growth of the new, young
forest by just being in the way.
The cutting of spruce and fir by the pulpwood
industry started before 1900 and increased in areas cut and volumes consumed to a high
level reached in the 1940's. The supply of mature spruce has diminished sharply since
then, and yet spruce is still a very important item commanding a high price at every
point. The cutover spruce swamps, and others which yielded tremendous volumes of cedar
posts, poles, and shingle bolts, have been reproduced as before, but are now generally
less than half-grown as they require for 80 to 120 years to mature.
This material has been compiled for educational use only, and
may not be reproduced without permission. One copy may be printed for personal
use. Please contact Randall Schaetzl (soils@msu.edu)
for more information or permissions.