Soils:  Balsam fir grows on sites underlain by a variety of parent materials, including gneiss, schist, anorthosite, diabase, slate, sandstone, and limestone.  It grows mostly on acid Spodosol, Inceptisol, and Histisol soil orders.  It grows on all soil textures, from heavy clay to rocky.  It tolerates a wide range of soil acidity.  In the Lake States, balsam fir is most common on cool, wet-mesic sites with soil pH values between 5.1 and 6.0.  In northeast Wisconsin it commonly grows on limestone outcrops.  (6)

Balsam fir wood is used primarily for pulpwood and lumber for light frame construction.  It is also used extensively for cabin logs.  The wood is lightweight, relatively soft, low in shock resistance, and has good splitting resistance.  Balsam fir is not well suited for use as posts and poles because it decays rapidly.  Minor wood products include paneling, crates, and other products not requiring high structural strength.

Balsam fir is a major food of moose during winter.  It tends to be utilized more when snow is deep and moose populations are high. Moose may browse balsam fir in winter to save energy because the twigs weigh 8 to 13 times more than deciduous twigs of similar length and therefore it requires less time and effort to consume equivalent amounts.  Balsam fir is unimportant in the diets of caribou and white-tailed deer.  Spruce and ruffed grouse feed on balsam fir needles, tips, and buds, which often make up 5 to 10 percent of the fall and winter diet.  Red squirrels feed on balsam fir male flower buds, and less frequently on leader and lateral buds in late winter and spring when other foods are scarce.  Stands attacked by the spruce budworm attract numerous insect-eating birds, especially warblers and woodpeckers.

Balsam fir provides important winter cover for white-tailed deer and moose.  Balsam fir stands attract ungulates because snow is not as deep as in adjacent hardwood stands.  Lowland balsam fir stands are used extensively by white-tailed deer as winter yarding areas, and by moose with calves during severe winters.  During summer, deer, bear, and moose often rest under the shade of balsam fir trees. Young balsam firs provide cover for small mammals and birds.  Martens, hares, songbirds, and even deer hide from predators in balsam fir thickets.  Grouse and songbirds seek shelter during winter within the evergreen foliage.  In Maine, fishers often nest in witches brooms in balsam fir trees.

Balsam fir is a popular Christmas tree in the East and grown on plantations for this purpose.  The branches are used to make Christmas wreaths.  The fragrant needles are used as a stuffing in souvenir pillows sold in New England. Balsam fir is occasionally used in landscaping.  It can be used in screenings, mass plantings, and windbreaks but requires abundant soil moisture for these purposes.

Bark blisters contain oleoresin, which is used in the optics industry as a medium for mounting microscope specimens and as a cement for various parts of optical systems. (6)