In 2002, Michigan's forestland totaled 19.3 million acres (7.8 million hectares), or more than half the state's total land area. Approximately 96% of it is classified as timberland, about twothirds of it privately owned. The major forested regions are in the northern two-thirds of the state, where great pine forests enabled Michigan to become the leading lumber-producing state in the last four decades of the 19th century. These cutover lands regenerated naturally or were reforested in the 20th century. Lumber production was 744 million board feet in 2002.
State and national forests covered 6.9 million acres (2.8 million hectares), or about one-fifth of the state's land area.