As we celebrated the National Forest Products Week, October 19-25, 2025, we are reminded of the incredible value of Wisconsin Forests. We are celebrating the people in the industry and the impact, especially on the rural communities in Wisconsin. Forest products include paper, pulp, lumber, building materials, renewable energy materials, and much more. The Forestry industry contributes $41.4 billion and supports 124,000 jobs according to the DNR of Wisconsin.
While Wisconsin is pioneering new wood-fiber technologies, including cross laminated timber, biodegradable packaging, carbon capturing building materials, the BIGGEST issue is the Paper and Pulp Industries in Wisconsin. Today, we have 8,000 people employed in the Pulp and Paper Industry and in the 1970’s we had 40,000. Based upon a supplied report, we will see a 22% decline in employment to 6,200. We witnessed the closure of 25 Pulp and Paper Companies in Wisconsin with an estimated revenue of 4.5 billion in 2025. Based upon Stastista, the total annual revenue of Paper and Pulp in the United States is $38.2 billion. Is Wisconsin still the #1 Paper and Pulp Manufacturer in the USA?
During the most recent Forest Products week in Madison, we had an outstanding group of speakers. They talked about a wide variety of topics and subjects with no major solutions for the issues impacting our forests. Regrettably, the panel overlooked broader considerations by focusing on only select aspects of the matter. The Paper and Pulp industry was the largest user of our Forestry Industry supporting rural communities and our Forestry Industry. Today, Wisconsin has three companies with five facilities producing virgin fiber. Today, we are importing pulp from Canada, Brazil, and companies in South America and Asia while our Forestry Industry continues to decline. The State of Wisconsin and Paper Companies need to invest in Pulp and Paper Manufacturing. The Paper and Pulp industries are emulating the decline in manufacturing in the United States.
Forestry, paper, and pulp manufacturing play an essential role in sustaining Wisconsin’s converting, packaging, and printing industries. The Paper and Pulp Industries of Wisconsin were the leaders by driving the success of the 5P and Converting Industries of Wisconsin. Without Investments in Paper and Pulp Manufacturing in Wisconsin, it will have a major impact on our Wisconsin Economy. Wisconsin still has leading Specialty Paper Manufacturers, and we need to support them especially in Pulp Production. The current Pulp Manufacturers have old plants, and the State of Wisconsin needs to support them with upgrades. We are grateful for Georgia-Pacific and Green Bay Packaging investing billions into their facilities in the Green Bay area.
The state is actively dedicating resources to planting forests and preserving them. Wisconsin has set its target by planting one hundred million new trees by 2023. We are seeing infrastructure improvements in forest road access and upgrading roads in twenty-four counties. The state is pursuing new forest-biomass and bio-product pathways in aviation biofuel that would use lower-quality forest biomass. The Wisconsin Careers Coalition is working on high-school curriculum and the UW Stevens Point and UW Madison are premier educational institutions supporting forestry. A new bill introduced in September 2025 proposing an investment of around $210 million in tax credits and state bonding to help the Forestry sector. The Forestry Revitalization Act aims to be a leader in biomass. Without investment in Pulp, Paper, Biomass, the viability of timber management, there are fewer places for foresters to bring in timber which will destabilize forest management programs.
Wisconsin needs to promote on our strengths in the 5P and Converting Industries
- Wisconsin offers top universities backing 5P and converting industries.
- Wisconsin has one of the best and largest sustainable forestry programs in the USA.
- Wisconsin loggers.
- Wisconsin Paper and Pulp is still a leader in Paper Manufacturing.
- Wisconsin has abundant water and power resources.
- Wisconsin leads in manufacturing support for the 5P and Converting Industries.
- Wisconsin has one of the largest Converting Industries in the USA.
- Wisconsin has one of the largest Printing Industries in the USA.
- Wisconsin has one of the largest Corrugated Industries in the USA
- Wisconsin has one of the largest Packaging Industries in the USA
- Wisconsin has one of the best educated and talented workforces in the USA.
