State Nursery Program

The mission of the state nursery program is "to insure a consistent supply of high quality seedlings, of desirable forest species, at an economical price, to encourage reforestation in Wisconsin."

Wisconsin’s forest nursery program has been a leader in the stewardship of natural resources since 1911, producing over 1.5 billion tree and wildlife shrub seedlings. Reforestation efforts utilizing state nursery stock have been instrumental in creating and enhancing the supply of raw material for the forest industry in Wisconsin. In addition, theses forests improve wildlife habitat, prevent soil erosion, conserve energy, and provide aesthetic beauty.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) currently operates three forest tree nurseries: the Wilson State Nursery in Boscobel; the Griffith State Nursery in Wisconsin Rapids; and the Hayward State Nursery in Hayward. Annually, between 18 and 20 million seedlings are produced for reforestation projects on state, county, industrial, and private lands. Partnerships and cooperative agreements have been built on the availability of high quality seedlings, economical seedling prices, known seed sources, and genetically superior nursery stock from the state nursery program. Purchasers of state nursery stock agree to use these trees only for reforestation, wildlife habitat, and erosion control purposes. The state nursery program is financially self-supported from the sale of trees and shrubs.

If you are interested in purchasing tree seedlings, orders may be placed starting in October for planting the following spring.