Adapting to a Changing Landscape: How Wisconsin Loggers Persist in an Era of Parcelization

The average forest landowner in Wisconsin owns fewer than 30 acres, and in 2014, landowners with as few as 10 acres of forestland were eligible to enroll in a tax program that required periodic timber harvests. These factors point to a need for loggers capable of profitably harvesting small parcels of timber. A series of in-person interviews were conducted with representatives of 15 Wisconsin logging firms previously identified as successful at harvesting small parcels of timber. Ninety-two percent of mechanized loggers had harvested parcels of 10 acres and smaller within the past year. Eighty-five percent of mechanized loggers were willing to harvest parcels as small as 5 acres assuming that only a short move (