Northwoods legislators Thursday organized a tour involving the area's forest products industries and traveled to three operations. State Representatives Rob Swearingen and Mary Czaja organized the tours.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, and Finance Committee co-chair John Nygren of Marinette and Forestry Chair Jeff Mursau of Crivitz were joined by other legislators from other parts of the state. Swearingen says they traveled to a logging operation near Tomahawk, then to Kretz Lumber Company in Antigo and then back to Tomahawk for a tour of the Packaging Corporation of America mill. Swearingen says the tours opened the eyes of legislators about the needs of the Northwoods industries...
"....I think we opened their eyes, along with the help of the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association and the County Foresters Association. All in all, a great day. They certainly got a first-hand look at what goes on in timber..."
Forestry is the number one employer in seven northern Wisconsin counties and is the state’s second-largest manufacturing employer. The combined job total including forestry and logging, pulp and paper, sawmills and wood products is over 62,200 employees at 1,462 establishments. That employment adds more than $3 billion to the state's economy.
