This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Tom Hittle, chair of the Wisconsin Council on Forestry.
The discussion explores the path ahead for the recently announced Wisconsin Forests FIRST initiative, which aims to create a long-term strategy for the state’s paper and forestry industries. It was funded with $1 million in the latest state budget.
“The important part of that is the forests first, so while this is a strategic plan and roadmap for our industry, it is really about putting our forests first and the health of our forests,” he said. “And ultimately, we have to have a healthy forest products industry to have healthy forests. You can’t separate the two.”
The state is currently growing more than twice the volume of timber that it’s harvesting, Hittle said, touting Wisconsin’s “great track record” with forest management.
“But we’re facing some headwinds with our industry moving forward,” he said. “Challenges with workforce, challenges with transportation, challenges in meeting what is really an evolving market, well beyond paper and some of the sawn products that we’ve produced here historically.”
The initiative will begin with an initial “deep dive” into resource availability.
“While we know that we’re growing more than two times what we’re actually harvesting, it’s really a question of how much of that is truly available to the market at a reasonable cost,” Hittle said.
Efforts will also explore regulations and policies that are “impeding” the industry’s success, according to Hittle. Other potential focus areas could include logging truck weight limits, the state’s rail network and others, he said.
He stressed that the initiative will evolve over the two-year funding period, and will ultimately deliver a strategic plan document with “actionable” proposals to the governor and state Legislature by the end of 2027.
Hittle also weighs in on broader market challenges that are impacting the industry, noting “we have lost markets for a substantial amount” of low-grade fiber that’s used in pulp and paper processing. That’s tied to Wisconsin paper mill closures in recent years.
“Those are substantial and those are related to just changing consumer preferences, demand for paper and some paper products,” he said. “We’ve been fortunate that our paper industry has been pivoting and will continue to pivot to other products that can be made with wood fiber.”
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
