Upcoming Observed Holidays: Good Friday 3/29/2024, Native American Day 5/13/2024, Memorial Day 5/27/2024, Juneteenth 6/19/2024, Fourth of July 7/4/2024

Menomonee Tribal Enterprises Neopit, Wisconsin
(715) 756-2311

History

The Forest Keepers

Committed to excellence in the sustainable management of our forest, and the manufacturing of our lumber and forest products providing a consistently superior product while serving the needs of our forest, employees, wood products customers, tribal community, and future generations.

fsc Forest Stewardship Council The Mark of Sustainable Forestry FSC C008058
150 years of sustainable forestry from Menomonee Tribal Enterprises

MTE History

About Us >> History

Producers and Manufactures of Quality Sustainable Forest Products since 1908History of MTE Wood

As the business arm of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin – being owned, controlled, and managed by the members of the Menominee Community – MTE in many ways embodies the culture, values, and spirituality of the Menominee:

"It is said of the Menominee that the sacredness of the land is their very body,
        the values of the culture are their very soul, the water is their very blood. It
        is obvious, then, that the forest and its living creatures can be viewed as food
        for their existence."
(Marshall Pecore MTE Forest Manager, Journal of
        Forestry, July, 1992).

The Menominee Tribe has inhabited Northeast Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula for generations, where ancestral tribal lands encompassed over 10 million acres. Following several treaties and land cessions, in 1854 the Menominee people were confined to their current Reservation lands, totaling 235,000 acres. The Menominee Forest has survived as an island of timber in an ocean of cleared land. It is representative of the Lake States boreal forest that existed prior to clearing for farming by settlers and timber barons.

Menominee Moccasins

Managing Wood Harvests and Resources

The Tribe quickly recognized the essential connection of their future and the wellness of the forest and embarked on a course of sustained yield management to avoid forest exploitation and preserve Tribal existence. In order to survive off of this limited land base, the Tribe decided that it must harvest timber; but must maintain and perpetuate the forest resources for future generations.

The basic concept used was to harvest timber from one end of the reservation to the other in such a manner that when done, the first areas cut would be ready for cutting again.

 

Conservation Driving Forest Management

MTE Saw Mill

Responsible harvesting has been the driving force for forest management over the past 140 years. It has been successful – there is more standing saw timber volume (1.7 billion board feet) now than there was in 1854 (estimated at 1.2 billion board feet). During this same period, over 2.25 billion board feet have been harvested from the same acreage.

The backbone of the Tribal economy has been its forest product industry. The Tribal Enterprise has its origins back in 1908, when our saw mill was built in Neopit. Since the Tribal Enterprise is not federally subsidized, the success of the mill depends on the steady flow of timber from forest to market. The Enterprise employs approximately 125 people which are mostly tribal members, plus 180 more woods workers.

At MTE, sustainability is our tradition – contact the forest management experts and lumber producers to get a quote on your next wood order.

 

© Copyright Menominee Tribal Enterprises 2024
FSC Forest Stewardship Council NHLA Certified National Hardwood Lumber Association USGBC US Green Building Council Member  transforming the way our buildings are designed, constructed and operated through LEED
N3522 Cottage Avenue - P.O.Box 10 Neopit WI 54150 USA

Menominee Tribal Enterprises is an internationally recognized sustainable wood supplier for wood brokers & exporters, lumber yards, basketball courts, furniture and cabinetry makers, hard and softwood pallet manufacturers, construction, interior design and more. We provide chemical-free FSC and LEED certified wood to a variety of industries, serving clients throughout Wisconsin in Madison, Oshkosh, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Eau Claire, Appleton, Green Bay, Waupaca, Sheboygan and Wausau.

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