Forest Products Week — Oct. 16-22 — celebrates the more than 61,000 men and women in Wisconsin who work in the forest products industry while considering how forest products make life better.
“The forest products industry positively impacts our everyday lives,” says Collin Buntrock, DNR Forest Products team leader. “Everything from lumber to build houses, furniture, and pallets to paper, heating fuel and chewing gum. It all started in the forest.”
These are just a few examples of the thousands of forest products people interact with daily.
DNR notes that as a changing climate continues to stand front and center in the minds of scientists, the forest products industry provide many benefits in combatting change. For example, forests store carbon, offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. Even after trees have been harvested and turned into forest products, they retain the carbon they stored while living.
In addition to the products and ecosystem services provided by the forest products industry, this sector greatly impacts the state’s economy.
“The forest products industry contributes $24.4 billion in goods and services and provides $6.9 billion in value-added output,” says Buntrock.
He says the industry accounts for 3.6 percent of state employment and represents almost 11.4 percent of total manufacturing jobs. In 31 counties, the forest products industry is one of the top 10 employers.
“Every 100 jobs in the forest products industry sector support an additional 123 jobs in the other sectors of the economy,” he says.
Leave a Reply