More hardwood was thinned from Wisconsin’s 1.5 million acre Northwoods last year than in recent memory, but advocates say more could be done to manage the timber and help Wisconsin’s struggling northern economy.

The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest had 63.2 million board feet of wood cut in 2013, worth about $5.1 million; that’s up from 59.7 million board feet cut in 2012. Wisconsin’s forest products industry feeds jobs in all corners of the state, from mills in Marshfield to paper producers in the Fox Valley and export shippers in the port of Green Bay.

Last year’s uptick in timber harvesting has brought more business to the Forest Sawmill in Wabeno, where owner Edward Piontek said he now has enough work to keep his four employees busy. But the timber harvest increase hasn’t been enough to allow Piontek to hire additional workers for the sawmill, which once employed more than 30 people.

In Laona, the effects of the lagging timber industry include a higher tax burden on local residents and a dramatic shift in student enrollment, said Laona School District Administrator Laurie Asher. She estimates her district is losing students at a rate of between five and 10 each year as more families are forced to relocate because of work. The high school’s class of 2014 had 24 graduates; next year’s incoming kindergarten class is expected to top out at around 12 students.

“There just aren’t any jobs,” Asher said. “And when timber isn’t being harvested at the rate it should be, it’s a double whammy for us, because that means less revenue for the school district and higher taxes for everyone.”

From PostCrescent.com: https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/investigations/2014/07/06/northwoods-still-suffering-despite-rise-tree-harvests/12264501/