Balsam Fir was first published in 1965. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

Professors Bakuzis and Hansen, with the assistance of a number of co-authors of individual chapters, present an exhaustive survey of the literature on the balsam fir, providing a coherent picture of the species and its place in nature and forestry practice. The balsam fir is used extensively in the pulp and paper industry, and it is known to millions as a traditional Christmas tree. In North America it is a major tree species in Canada, in the northeastern United States, and in the Great Lakes region.

In the search of the literature, over 2000 sources were consulted and considerably more than half of them are cited in the book. The references, organized in an ecological framework, cover the period from the seventeenth century to the present. The authors have reviewed and integrated these data in a unified, but multipurposed, book. In the integration of the source material the authors also made contributions of their own. The book contains the following chapters: Botanical Foundations, Geography and Synecology, Ecological Factors, Microbiology, Entomology, Reproduction, Stand Development, Growth and Yield, and Utilization. Appendixes list fungi and myxomycetes and insects associated with balsam fir. There are 30 illustrations, including a frontispiece drawing by the noted nature artist Francis Lee Jaques.

The book will appeal to a wide range of readers specifically concerned with forestry, including research workers, educators, entomologists, pathologists, and managing foresters, as well as conservationists and wildlife biologist in general.