Upper Peninsula Tree Improvement Center
The Upper Peninsula Tree Improvement Center (UPTIC) offers numerous services, including a teaching and outreach center that conducts field tours for professional resource managers, landowners, policy-makers and Christmas tree growers. It also serves as a training site for forest resource plan writers. Pulpwood is the third most valuable agricultural crop in Michigan, and the fiber farming research done at UPTIC will define production systems that will quickly yield harvestable trees. Silviculture, forest genetics and forested wetland research are also important activities at the center. Logging and forest products manufacturing (paper and lumber milling) are two of the primary industries providing employment in the Upper Peninsula. Statewide, the lumber industry directly employs approximately 63,000 people.
Michigan State University has been conducting forestry research in Michigan's Upper Peninsula since 1925. Today the University operates three research forests in the Upper Peninsula with headquarters at the Upper Peninsula Tree Improvement Center (UPTIC). This web site provides information about UPTIC. We invite you to look at our Articles & Reports section where some of the latest research results are available. Also check-out our Online Tour & Classroom area where you can compare Christmas tree varieties, see northern white-cedar regeneration methods, and tag along with some of the groups that have toured our properties. Meet our Staff if you have the time.
The Latest...
The Northern Frontier of Forestry and Fuel Research
The winter/spring 2009 issue of Futures, the magazine of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, features an article highlighting the research done at UPTIC and other Upper Peninsula forestry field research stations. Read the article.
Growing a New Economy for Michigan: Expanding the Bioeconomy with Woody Biomass
Michigan State University is committed to helping Michigan become a world leader in the bioeconomy. Scientists at the U.P. Tree Improvement Center are leading a number of intiatives aimed at expanding the bioeconomy with woody biomass. Below are links to publications on current research, outreach, education and collaboration activities:
- Summary of all activities (pdf, 865K)
- MSU-MTU Renewabe Fuels Working Group Fact Sheet (pdf, 122K)
- Feedstock Supply Chain Center of Energy Excellent Fact Sheet (pdf, 182K)
- Forestry Biofuel Statewide Collaboration Center Fact Sheet (pdf, 269K)
- MSU Resources Invested in Michigan's Bioeconomy Fact Sheet (pdf, 120K)
- Partnering with Sweden to Grow the Bioeconomy (pdf, 122K)
- Education and Outreach on Woody Biomass (pdf, 123K)
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| This is a production system for growing trees fast on abandoned agricultural land to supply existing pulp and fiber markets in Michigan. A general description of the process is presented here, along with links to more specific information. |
| Northern Hardwood Regeneration Heavy Deer Browsing |
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| Overbrowsing by white-tailed deer is effecting the regeneration of certain woody plants and forbs in northern hardwood stands. This may eventually lead to fundimental changes in species composition and diversity in these stands. A paper is available in our library that describes our experiences in Escanaba with this issue. | ||
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Regenerating Aspen in the presence of Invasive Exotics |
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| Invasive exotic species pose a threat to native plant communities. Insects, diseases, and plants can spread easily in environments without natural controls. Buckthorn is an exotic shrub that invades natural plant communities in our area, including aging aspen stands. This case study looks at our successful efforts to regenerate such an aspen stand at our research center. The report is called: Regenerating quaking aspen on a site dominated by buckthron in Upper Michigan: A case study. |
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| We have a continuously recording weather station at UPTIC. You can check current conditions or historical data at the MAWN web site. You can also download a pdf version of an informative brochure. |
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Check out some Michigan Forest Facts... |
Please send any comments or suggestions regarding this site to:
Upper Peninsula Tree Improvement Center
Ray Miller, uptic@msu.edu
6005 J Road
Escanaba, Michigan 49829
Phone: 906-786-1575
