Fire devastates parts of the Menominee Tribe’s famed lumber business

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By FRANK VAISVILAS

USA Today Network

The Menominee Nation‘s famed forestry operation suffered a major setback after a fire destroyed a key piece of equipment.

Jennifer Peters, president of Menominee Tribal Enterprises, which manages the tribe’s forestry operations, announced that a fire in the early morning of March 3 destroyed a stacker building and associated equipment.

The fire occurred just before workers starting arriving at 5:30 a.m. and no injuries were reported. Fire departments from Keshena and Neopit on the reservation doused the blaze before it spread to other parts of the lumber yard and mill. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Peters said MTE production will be closed until workers assess the damage and determine steps for recovery of business operations. The MTE store and main office are still open during regular business hours.

The 10,000 square-foot building that housed the stacker equipment was destroyed, as was 20,000 feet of lumber.

A lumber stacker is an industrial machine that automatically arranges finished boards into neat stacks for drying, storage or transport.

John Awonohopay, MTE sales manager, said construction of a new stacker will start this spring with a finish by late summer or early fall. He said lumber drying could possibly be outsourced until then.

Nearly all of MTE’s “stickers” also were turned into ash. Stickers are thin strips of wood placed between layers of sawed wood to create air space for drying.

The Menominee Nation’s forestry operation is renowned around the world for its sustainable management. Researchers, academics and forestry experts from around the world frequently visit the Menominee Forest to learn about the tribe’s techniques for maintaining one of the healthiest forests in the Midwest while sustainably harvesting lumber to support tribal members.

The tribe’s 235,000-acre forest is clearly recognizable in satellite images and its greenery stands out during the nightly TV news weather reports in Doppler radar, especially because its dense canopy is surrounded by agricultural lands.

About 15 million board feet of lumber is produced from the forest every year without affecting the forest’s ecological balance. Menominee lumber has been used in high-profile places, including the Milwaukee Bucks‘ basketball court at Fiserv Forum, the Native Truths hall at the Field Museum in Chicago and the Lumberjack World Championships.