The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will pay you to help collect pine cones for their reforestation program.
It’s the perfect time of year to collect pine cones, according to Wisconsin DNR Forest Regeneration Specialist Jeremiah Auer.
The DNR will buy your bushels of red pine cones to stock their reforestation program.
“We're not really buying cones, per se. We're buying a seed that's inside the cones. So that's the goal in the end. But I mean, obviously the way we get them is, you know, folks pick cones for us,” explained Auer.
There are stations around the state, including Rhinelander, where you can drop off your bushels.
They’ll pay you $125 a bushel for properly collected pine cones.
Auer encourages people to call DNR stations if they have questions.
“We do want people to be successful. We don't want, you know, we really don't want folks to go out there and waste their time and then be disappointed that, you know, they're picking something that we don't want, or or anything like that,” he said.
Red pines grow all over Wisconsin but especially in the sandy soils of the central, northeast, and northwest parts of the state.
“There is, there is no way that we can get to see that we need without the general public. It just can't happen,” said Auer.
They need to collect more than 120 bushels of cones to get enough seed for one year’s worth of red pine seedlings for the reforestation program.
“Last year, our best pickers actually were a couple of guys out of Lincoln County that picked, like, I don't know, 60 bushels or 80, but it was a lot. They picked, I can't remember exactly what it was, but they did a great job,” said Auer.
He says it takes about two to two and a half hours to pick a full bushel of pine cones.
It’s not a great year for red pine, so even the professional pickers are struggling a little more.
The DNR’s reforestation program is small.
“We try to train folks on how to collect seed and take care of it properly before they get it to us, but we would not be able to get anything, to be honest,” said Auer.
There used to be a dedicated contingent of pickers, but a lot of those folks have grown older and can’t keep collecting seeds forever.
Now, the DNR wants to encourage younger generations to join the program.
“It's cute, too. So we've had, like, there was a homeschool group that each one of the kids brought in like, a quarter or a half bushel,” said Auer.
The DNR is looking for pine cones at their mature stage, when their color has turned brown but the scales haven’t opened yet to release seeds.
If you have questions about whether you’re collecting the right seeds, reach out to your local DNR station.
