In the wood products supply chain, the logging industry is a critical link that connects forest resources and the management of those forests with wood-using mills. A healthy logging industry is, therefore, a prerequisite for sustainable forest management and for well-functioning forest products industries. This study used the data collected from coordinated mail surveys of logging businesses in the Lake States of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to assess the status and capacity of the sector in 2016. It analyzed the similarities and differences between mechanized and chainsaw-based logging businesses in each state. Additionally, the procurement areas of logging businesses in Michigan were delineated using a road network dataset and indicated average one-way travel distance of logging businesses to harvest sites using ArcGIS. The areas with high versus low competition for timber resources in the loggers’ wood basket were also identified. The condition of timber resources and ownership types in the wood basket of respondent logging businesses were assessed using forest inventory and analysis data 2019. Based on their level of reliance on nonindustrial private forests (NIPFs) for stumpage, the logging businesses in Michigan were categorized as NIPF-dependent and nondependent businesses and similarities and differences between the two groups were explored. Further, the study utilized impact analysis for planning (IMPLAN) software and 2017 IMPLAN data to estimate the economic contribution of the logging industry to each state and to the region’s economy. IMPLAN was also used to understand the potential economic impacts of projected loss in logging businesses in each of the three states and to understand how substitution of lost logging capacity through imports would affect the economic footprint of forest products industries within that state. Our findings highlight interesting traits of logging businesses in the region. Despite the presence of many small logging businesses, much of the volume (58%) was produced by a few large producers (13%) who seemed to have an advantage over their smaller sized counterparts. Businesses and business owners across the region were aging (average business duration, 27 years and average owner age, 54 years), and the majority were producing below their full operational capacity and achieving break-even profit levels. About a quarter of logging businesses in the region intended to exit from the market in the short-term future, and there seemed to be a lack of enticing factors attracting new workforce members into the business. Mechanized logging businesses had a significantly higher number of owners per business, were more likely to be family-run operations, had greater amounts of capital invested in business, and harvested five times the timber volume compared to chainsaw-based logging businesses. Compared to chainsaw-based logging businesses, mechanized logging businesses in Wisconsin were more likely to indicate that they will continue logging in the short-term future. The findings from the service area delineation for Michigan’s logging businesses revealed that 15% of the total forest acres available in the procurement areas of respondent logging businesses have relatively less competition while one percent have very high competition. Forest conditions dataset in the procurement areas indicate net annual growth to be more than double the removals, meaning that sustainability in timber resource use was not a concern at the time of the study. However, net growth to removals ratios varied considerably with ownership types suggesting that increased timber harvests from all ownership types may not be equally sustainable. NIPF dependent and nondependent logging businesses in Michigan varied in terms of average volume harvested, equipment used, and methods employed for acquiring stumpage. The economic contribution analysis results revealed that the logging industry directly employed over 12,000 people in 2017 and generated more than $900 million in direct economic output to the three-state regional economy. Including ripple effects, the contributions were much higher. In case of lost logging capacity within a state, if the local demand for roundwood and logs produced by the logging industry is met through imports, a considerable portion of indirect and induced economic effects that could be realized within the state leak out of it. Information about logging businesses as presented in this study are useful for developing a better understanding about this industry among policy makers, foresters, landowners, and forest products industries alike to help sustain and strengthen this industry in the future.
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