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October 22, 2026
Most people associate forest products with building materials like lumber and wood, but without Michigan’s raw material production you wouldn’t have a smartphone.
How is that possible? Your phone’s touch screen is made with nanocellulose, which can come from bark of Michigan trees. Additionally, the pulp industry heavily relies on forestry. This means simple products like paper plates, toilet paper and pulp in our mills come from our trees.
“Forest products are everywhere around us. You might not immediately realize it, but without Michigan’s timber industry, many of the necessities and luxuries we enjoy wouldn't exist,” said Matthew Watkeys, Michigan Department of Natural Resources forest marketing and utilization specialist.
Forest Products Week (Oct. 18-24 this year) is a nationally recognized event, highlighting the importance of natural resources management. Annually, the State of Michigan celebrates the importance of its vast forest products industry.
Forest products are a $27 billion industry in Michigan, making it one of the largest economic industries in the state. However, not everyone is aware of how integrated it is into our everyday life.
The DNR manages almost 4 million acres of publicly owned state forest land. Each year, about 50,000 acres are harvested for use.
The DNR is dual certified by two outside organizations, which means it upholds industry management standards, ensuring that Michigan's public forests are alive and healthy for generations to come. As part of that continued commitment, the DNR will soon publish the final draft of its next 10-year State Forest Management Plan.
More than half of Michigan is covered in forest land; most of it falls on private property, including commercial forests. The industry continues to grow: Since 2017, forest products-related jobs have increased by 4.2%. Now, approximately 42,500 Michiganders are employed through forest product operations.
The DNR also partners with other Michigan-based organizations to protect our forests, including but not limited to the Michigan Forest Association, the Michigan Association of Timbermen and the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association.
Note to editors: An accompanying photo is available below for download. Caption information follows.
Warmer than normal temperatures and gusty winds in the Upper Peninsula weather forecast mean more people working and playing outside mixed with a wildfire risk that’s higher than usual this late in the season.
Here’s the real scary part about bats: Their numbers were decimated by a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome more than a decade ago and, despite researchers’ ongoing efforts, have not yet recovered. That’s frightening because bats play an important role in our world.
With repair work on trestle footings continuing beyond a previously anticipated completion date, a section of snowmobile Trail UP8 will be closed this winter, with a reroute available.
Do you fish the Muskegon River between Croton Dam and the river mouth at Lake Michigan? This fall you might see in the channel lake whitefish carrying acoustic telemetry tags and acoustic receivers for tracking the fish.
Most crew activity across the three Rugged Terrain Complex fires in the Upper Peninsula is beginning to wind down, with firefighters focusing on finding residual fire activity and patrolling containment lines as fire behavior remains calm and steady.
After a week of living under the “Ready, Set, Go!” protocol for potential evacuations initiated in response to the Ridge Fire, located 10 miles northwest of Marquette, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Marquette County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management have lifted the “Ready” status for residents along North Basin Drive.
As fire crews on the ground battle to suppress and contain the Rugged Terrain Complex wildfires in the Upper Peninsula, officials have confirmed that a lightning strike was the cause of the Black River Fire. This was also the confirmed cause of the Craig Lake Fire; the cause of the Ridge Fire remains under investigation.
Like most things, wildfires don’t always look like they do in the movies. Even at hundreds of acres each (just over 1,400 acres combined), the three fires that make up the Rugged Terrain Complex aren’t currently burning through the trees of the Upper Peninsula forests. They are burning up to 2 feet down in the duff, a layer of organic material lying under freshly fallen leaves and twigs and above the bare mineral soil.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is now managing the three major U.P. wildfires – Ridge Fire, Craig Lake Fire and Black River Fire – as the Rugged Terrain Complex. One incident management team managing all three fires, known as a “complex,” allows for better coordination, logistical support, more streamlined communication and better efficiency.
