Hardwood Defect Guides
The Wisconsin Forestry Center has developed photographic guides to defects in hardwood tree species. The guides are intended as a resource to assist foresters and loggers in understanding the impacts of externally visible defects on internal conditions in a tree. Understanding the impact of external defects on the quality of lumber inside a tree is of prime importance for foresters when developing stand prescriptions and marking timber. The Foresters’ Photographic Guide to Stem Defects in Hard Maple was published in 2023, and The Foresters’ Photographic Guide to Oak Hardwood Defects was published in 2026.
FORESTERS’ PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE TO STEM DEFECTS IN HARD MAPLE
Hard maple represents both one of the highest volume and highest value timber species in the Lake States. The 55-page maple defect guide features full-color photos depicting how a defect moves through a log, board-by-board. The guide describes wound response in trees and documents the impacts from the following types of defects: butt defects, cavities, tearouts, maple borer, bird peck, included bark, seams, epicormic sprouts, and remnant branches. Each defect is depicted with images of the tree’s exterior as well as how the defect appears on milled boards.
Cost: $20 each. Free shipping!
Discounted price of $18 each available for Wisconsin SFI members. Please list your organization in your order information.
FORESTERS’ PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE TO OAK HARDWOOD DEFECTS
Northern red oak (Quercus rubra) is an economically important species in the Lake States. Of the species in the defect guide series, hard maple is extraordinary at compartmentalizing wounds, while northern red oak is more moderate. This guide will document impacts from the following types of defects: butt defects, epicormic sprouts, co-dominant stems, tearouts, suppressed growth, logging equipment damage, seams, and insect damage. Trees for this guide were selected from a site in Shawano County. This project was completed thanks to three research assistant interns in the UW-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources.
Cost: $20 each. Free shipping!
Discounted price of $18 each available for Wisconsin SFI members. Please list your organization in your order information.
Partners involved in the red oak defect project gathered at the UW-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources research symposium in April 2024. Alice Maas, Eric Alfredson, and Hannah Kovalaske, student research interns at the Wisconsin Forestry Center, presented at the Jim and Katie Krause CNR Student Research Symposium on April 19, 2024. The Interns are holding signs created from the red oak milled as part of this project.
Pictured from left are Mike Demchik, Ph.D., Forestry Professor; Megan Espe, former WFC Associate Director; Intern Allee Maas; Paul Balley, Tigerton Lumber Co.; Intern Hannah Kovalaske; Tom Kazlk, Stockbridge-Munsee Community Forestry Dept.; Intern Eric Alfredson; Les Werner, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Forestry and founding WFC Director; Ben Knaack, Tigerton Lumber Co., and Paul Koll, Stockbridge-Munsee Community Forestry Dept.
Project Partners
This project was made possible through support from the following entities:
