The flat to rolling terrain of the region supports productive timber soils surrounded by a wealth of rivers, lakes and streams. The timber resource is a mix of red pine and jack pine plantations as well as various hardwood species. A good portion of the timber market in the region focuses on hardwood sawtimber with Hard Maple in the UP of Michigan being regarded as some of the highest quality veneer in the world. Pulp mill capacity is limited to a handful of large facilities located throughout the region. Softwood sawtimber demand is primarily for red pine, although markets exist for most sawtimber species. In addition to timber related revenues, timber investments in the lake states region also rely on strong markets for recreational tract disposition and farm conversion.