Court is in Session

The grand opening is almost here and the doors to the new Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin Center will finally be opened this summer on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Following small delays to the original timeline, everything is now in place for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony this July. The brand-new facility has it all – a weight room, a film room, athletic training facilities, impressive branding features – but one of the most important features is one that might be easily overlooked.

The basketball court itself carries an amazing backstory, one with ties to the court the Milwaukee Bucks play on as well as others that have made appearances in the NCAA Tournament over the years.

The court is made from lumber that comes from the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin and is produced out of the Menominee Forest. The 230,000-acre forest, run by Menominee Tribal Enterprises, provides the wood that is a sustainable harvest for the tribe’s sawmill business.

Every tree taken out of the land has been carefully accounted for over 150 years. The estimate is that much of the forest has been chopped down and regrown three times over the ages. The tribe has produced close to 200 million cubic feet of timber from this land since 1854 — white pine cut into museum displays and hard maple made into basketball courts.

The land is home to over 4,000 tribal members and over two dozen species of trees that cover 90 percent of the land: red oak, pine, maple, and aspen are said to be in greatest number, all replanted after each use.

According to a story that ran in the New York Times, a quote attributed to the tribe’s legendary Chief Oshkosh set their course. If the Menominee took only very old, sick and fallen trees, he said, “the trees will last forever.”

The result is this sustainable forest that remains very influential today. The New York Times story also stated that foresters routinely come from around the world to study the Menominee land, which has been recognized by the United Nations and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, the gold standard for responsible forestry, among other awards.

The Milwaukee Athletic Department has scheduled the official ribbon-cutting ceremony for July 26. The department’s goal is to have the floor blessed by the tribe prior to the ceremony. At publication date, the blessing is being planned to be done by the Menominee Tribal Dance and Drum Team and the Wolf River Drum and Dance Team.

According to its website (www.mtewood.com), the “Forest Keepers” are “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”.

Working with the Preferred Partners Team, Menominee Tribal Enterprises and its world famous forest offers wood for the courts with the famous “MTE FSC ADVANTAGE”. It honors the rich diverse cultures, traditions, and history of native people their lands. MTE harvesting practices were the blue print for all FSC certification programs. MTE utilizes all the latest science and technology while guided by Indigenous wisdom creating a land ethic that is set apart from all other forest management practices. 150+ years of wisdom.

To lead environmental efforts in any industry requires complete commitment. Action Floors lives and breathes sustainability on every level: offering environmentally friendly products; conserving energy; maximizing resource yield with full utilization of all raw materials; joining global initiatives; ensuring the well-being of our people. Our efforts ensure clean, sustainable manufacturing practices, assess environmental impacts and establish groundbreaking best practices. This has earned us industry’s first — and only — Carbon Negative certification, based on a Life Cycle Assessment conducted by the University of Wisconsin and Carbon Clear, an international independent auditor of manufacturing carbon profiles. 35 years in the business.

Pro Star Surfaces, Sports and Performance Surfaces Company. Provides Athletic Wood and Rubber Surfaces to the Professional, Collegiate and Secondary School Market as well as Private Fitness and Health Facilities. Full product and project management services. Projects include all the Milwaukee Bucks floors, many colleges and universities, schools, museums, and stages. More than 40 years of experience makes us the premier in the industry.