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Business History
In the early 1970s, the aspen forest was fast becoming over mature. County and state officials were looking at ways of utilizing this resource. Johnson Timber Corporation was established in 1973, by William D. Johnson, as a means to use this resource. The Johnson Timber plant, built at our Hayward site, began to supply paper quality aspen wood chips to the paper industry in July 1974. William B. (Butch) Johnson assumed the business operations from his father in 1986. The company immediately expanded through acquisition of two other Wisconsin chip mills: Bayside Timber (Ashland site) and Magnum Timber (Hixton site). These acquisitions provided greater flexibility and dependability to our customers. Other benefits were new locations within primary wood baskets as well as greater transportation strategies.
Over the past 30 years, we have continually upgraded and improved our facilities and processes. This has led to some interesting times, as the business world, technology and wood basket have changed. One constant has always remained; our commitment to continually strive to provide the best quality and service to meet the customers needs, while providing a safe, friendly and family-oriented workplace.
In 1990, in response to our commitment to our customers and the environment, Futurewood Corp. was formed. This company was started to ensure the availability of wood fiber to meet current and future demands. From private landowner management plans to major land holdings, Futurewood Corp. has evolved to such an extent that we have set up its own web site. Please click on the link and see for yourself.
In 2002, another affiliate was added to the Johnson Timber group. As the U.S. economy has moved towards a global economy many industries are looking at ways to cut costs. Summit Lake Timber (Park Falls site) was built to supply 100% of the wood chips required to operate the pulp mill. This differs from our other plants because of its location. Summit Lake Timber is located on the same property as the pulp mill. By building the chip mill on site, we were able to design and build a mill using the latest technology, while keeping delivery costs to a minimum. The process and detail can be found by clicking on the Park Falls site in the left hand column.
In 2004, Johnson Timber purchased the first side discharge Deal Processor portable rotary debarker. This utilizes the latest debarking technology and will allow greater flexibility for meeting today’s market conditions.
Whether you are looking for wood chips, chip quality seminars, wood yield studies, peeled pulpwood, landscaping bark, forest management, or mill design and construction, we invite you to give us a call. Our history has taught us well, and we would welcome the opportunity to share what we have learned.