Michigan Ice Storm Crashes Q3 Timber Prices

There is vivid evidence of the devastation from Michigan’s massive March ice storm reflected in the price and volume information in Forest Data Network’s data gathered for the third quarter of 2025.

The two FDN Prime geographic regions most heavily affected (the North Shore and Huron Forest regions) showed a total decline in volume of wood harvested of 45% from the same quarter in 2024. These two regions cover the bulk of the Northern portion of Michigan’s lower peninsula. This was the area most affected by the ice storm.

Cordwood stumpage prices (weighted average) in these regions for maple and pine were down by 35% to 100%. Sawlog prices for pine were down by 49% (North Shore region) and 70% (Huron Forest region). Maple sawlog prices were down by 31% in the North Shore region.

Data on maple prices were scarce in the Huron Forest region due to very limited sales.

Those two regions contain 11 counties that are among the most heavily forested in Michigan’s lower peninsula. The regional data is also available by county in the database.

Subscribers to our Forest Data Network Prime database can follow ongoing price developments week by week in the FDN Prime database as new price information is posted, and also see summaries of how price changes unfold in 4th quarter averages for common cordwood and sawlog species.