1,500 



1,000 



§ 500 



1,5 89 87 LARGE 

 MM MILLS 



1930 1940 1950 



FiGURK 2S.— Trends iu number and prtxiuclioti of larae and medium-sized 

 saii'mil/s since 1929. 



rose from 92 million board teet to 313 million board 

 feet in this period. Since mills of this type do not 

 require large holdings of timberland and stumpage, 

 and commonly can operate on logs trucked in by 

 farmers and small jobbers, they are better adapted 

 to present conditions in the northern part of the 

 Lake States than the large mills. Ustially they are 

 more efficient and tiun out a better product than the 

 very small mills. Logically they shoidd continue 

 to increase in the relatively well forested parts of 

 the region {8). 



The present number of very small and rather 

 poor sawmills seems unduly large in relation to the 

 quantity of lumber they produce and to the extent 

 and condition of the woodlands in the southern 

 part of the region where most of them operate. 

 However, if the timber stands improve, and if 

 markets can be found for more of the lower quality 

 woods available, it is possible that the total output 

 froin small mills will continue to increase for many 

 years. Further development of really efficient small 

 mills, especially of the portable type, which logically 

 shoidd replace many of the old farmyard mills, may 

 tend to reduce the total ninnber in operation. 



Pulp and Paper Mills 



Partially offsetting the decline of the lumber 

 industry in the Lake States has been the develop- 

 ment of an increasingly important pulp and paper 

 industry. Pidpwood consumed by Lake States mills 

 has increased from less than 0.5 million cords in 



1904 to 2.8 million cords in 1948. Nearly two-thirds 

 of the pulpwood consimied in recent years Iras been 

 used by pulp mills in Wisconsin. 



A total of 101 paper mills and 46 pulp mills oper- 

 ated in the Lake States in 1947. They employed an 

 estimated 35,300 workers exclusive of Avoods -work- 

 ers, paid approximately 112 million dollars in 

 salaries and ^vages, and turned out products Avorth 

 roughly 538 million dollars (table 22). 



The paper mills turned out 3.8 million tons of 

 paper and board in 1947— approximately 18 per- 

 cent of the national output. In the process, they 

 consimied 2.1 million tons of wood pulp, of ^vhich 

 nearly one-third was imported from Canada and 

 other foreign sources. The Lake States pulp mills 

 themselves produced a little more than 1.5 million 

 tons, consuming 2.6 million cords of Avood (fig. 29). 



The pulp and paper industry in this region 

 enjoys a number of competitive advantages in the 

 form of good location with reference to markets, 

 good supply of Avater and power, a skilled and stable 

 labor supply, and close contact -with research agen- 

 cies. Its future, however, is definitely tied to its 

 relationship wixh the wood supply. If it can get 

 enough wood at reasonable cost, it can maintain 

 its present position or expand somewhat. If it must 

 continue to haid wood from more and more distant 

 points, it will probably decline. 



Spruce and balsam fir accounted for 48 percent 

 of the 2.8 million cords of pulpwood consumed in 

 1948. Pine made up 22 percent, aspen 22 percent, 

 hemlock (i percent, and other species 2 percent of 



32 



Forest Resource Report No. 1, I'. S. Drpa) liiinif of Aii^yinillure 



