2008 Indiana State Fair
 
 
 
 

Year of Trees

Leaves of Knowledge - Money Can Grow on Trees!

  • Indiana’s forest and hardwood industry impacts Indiana’s economy by more than $17 billion annually. The sale of trees alone generates approx $174 million a year.
  • Nearly 130,000 Hoosiers are employed in harvesting of timber and manufacturing or sale of wood products.
  • The Indiana Hardwood industry ranks #1 in wood office furniture, manufactured homes, wood stock line kitchen cabinets and wood burial caskets and coffins and #2 in production of hardwood veneer and plywood.
  • Indiana has more than 4.65 million acres of timberland, representing about 20% of the state’s acreage. This total is more than Connecticut and Rhode Island
    combined.
  • Indiana is ‘famous’ worldwide for native hardwoods, particularly white oak and walnut. Indiana also produces ash, cherry, poplar and maple lumber.
  • Indiana forests are managed as sustainable resources in an environmentally responsible manner.
  • Forest based manufacturing generates payrolls of more than $1.2 billion annually.

    • (source: Indiana's Hardwood Industry: It's Economic Impact - Indana Dept. of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry - 2007)
  • Nut trees grown in Indiana are:
    • Almonds
    • Black Walnuts
    • Butternuts - Sometimes called the white walnut. 
    • Chestnuts
    • Heartnuts
    • Hazelnuts & Filberts 
    • Hickory
    • Hicans- A Hickory-Pecan hybrid. 
    • Pecans
    • Persian Walnuts - Frequently called "English Walnuts"

      (source: Indiana’s Nut Growers Association)

  • About 5,000 gallons of maple syrup were produced in Indiana in 2007.  (source: Indiana Division of Forestry’s Utilization & Marketing (U&M) Program)
  • There are 31 counties in Indiana that have at least one active maple syrup producer.  Elkhart County has the most reported sugar camps at 31 camps, as well as the largest, which produces almost 750 gallons of syrup annually. (source: Indiana Division of Forestry survey, 2007).
  • In 2007, Indiana’s 61 Tree Cities planted over 10,938 trees, removed 6,269 and pruned 19,296 trees.  Tree Cities USA recognizes cities and towns for outstanding management of their urban forests (source: Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry).

    (source: Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry)