Minnesota forest industries today employ more than 60,000 people statewide, have a payroll of over $1 billion, and contribute nearly $6.5 billion annually to the state's economic wealth. Minnesota's forest industry is an international business.

Forest industry is the state's third-largest economic engine, behind only agriculture and computer industries. Further, this revolution is astonishingly fast-paced. This growth has been accomplished in slightly over one decade and continues on a steadily diminishing forest-resource landbase. Land available for forest industry and for much of the forest-based recreational activities has shrunk from an original pre-settlement-era 31.5 million acres of forest lands to about 15 million acres of timber available for harvest.