The closure of the Verso Corp. paper mill in Duluth this summer came with an economic hit to northern Minnesota — and foresters are now worried it also puts thousands of acres of trees at risk of wildfire.
The mill was one of the area's biggest buyers of spruce and balsam fir trees. Loggers who planned on harvesting the trees suddenly found themselves with nowhere to take them. With little logging demand, both public and private forest managers now have to leave the trees standing.
That wouldn't be too big of a problem under normal circumstances, said Jason Meyer, deputy director of St. Louis County's land and minerals department. But Minnesota is in the midst of a prolonged outbreak of spruce budworm, a pest and caterpillar that has killed more than 200,000 acres of fir and spruce trees in each of the last three years.
"Without an outlet, all that balsam fir and spruce that would have been utilized is being left in the woods," Meyer said. "Couple that with the budworm outbreak and you're left with these thick stands of dead, dying and drying out trees. It creates more of a fire hazard."
Verso closed the mill in June, saying the decision was driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, putting 235 people out of work. The mill made nearly 300,000 tons of paper a year and bought a great deal of spruce and balsam fir trees to do it.
Aside from pulp, there are few industrial uses for spruce or fir. Some places will saw the highest quality trees into boards, but the majority of demand comes from paper makers, Meyer said.
While there are large paper mills in International Falls, Grand Rapids and other parts of the state, the cost to ship major quantities of timber makes it unprofitable for most loggers near Duluth or farther up the Arrowhead in Lake County to try to sell it there.
St. Louis County, which manages vast acres of public forest, stands to lose tens of thousands of dollars worth of unsold fir and spruce this winter because of the closure of the mill, Meyer said. More than a thousand acres of the trees could remain uncut.