An Examination of Michigan's Logging Sector in the Emerging Bioenergy Market

Abstract

Logging firms, as suppliers of raw material, form an important part of Michigan's forest products industry. Given the increasing interest in wood-based bioenergy production, their role has become increasingly important. For this study, we used a mail survey of Michigan's logging firms to provide an outlook of the logging sector within the state. The aim was to understand the status of existing logging businesses and to explore their potential role in the woody biomass supply chain. Our findings reveal that the state's logging firms have been facing difficulty in retaining their business and in running operations profitably in recent years. Mill closures in the past decade have had significant negative impacts on half of the responding firms. Given this situation, the introduction of wood-to-energy facilities could provide new market opportunities for logging firms in the state. Loggers in general were found to be supportive of introducing such facilities in their wood basket. Availability of timber to meet the feedstock demands of new and existing facilities could, however, become a challenging issue in the future. Insufficient timber sales and high stumpage prices were identified as the major barriers to increased harvesting by the logging firms in our survey. On average, the responding firms reported that in the majority (83%) of their logging jobs, they leave logging residues on site, suggesting that there is little or no market for such materials at present. This could change, however, with market development and improvement in the logging and transportation facilities in the future.