Characterizing timber salvage operations on public forests in Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA

Abstract

ABSTRACTDespite the common management practice of salvage logging in recently naturally disturbed forests, little is known about the contribution salvage logging operations make to wood markets or their importance in the wood supply chain. The objective of this study was to assess the contribution of salvage wood to the total volume of wood sold on state and county lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA. Analyzing data collected from 2010 to 2014, salvage wood made up 10% of the 27.2 million m3 of wood sold by these ownerships during this period, a percentage similar to the total amount of forest area that was disturbed by insects, disease, weather damage, or some other natural agent across state and/or county lands over the same time period. Where a widespread forest disturbance was observed (e.g. a catastrophic windstorm that resulted in blowdown), salvage sales offered more volume per sale and were larger in size compared to non-salvage sales. We conclude that when large-scale disturbances occur, there may be a large influx of salvage-harvested wood from a specific region for which timber sale records could be used to better understand the economic contribution of forest disturbances to local wood markets.