This week marks the 39th year that our nation has commemorated National Forest Products Week. During the last four decades, this annual event has served to remind Americans of the bounty, utility and beauty of our forests and timberlands.
Our nation’s forest products industry has an enviable record of stewardship of our country’s environment and its wildlife, while providing its people with paper, packaging, lumber and thousands of byproducts that contribute in so many ways to our high standard of living.
The companies in our industry are often asked how we can claim to be environmentalists, when we harvest timberland as we do. It is precisely because we raise timber for harvest that we must be environmentalists. On average, our industry has planted about 35 percent more trees than we have harvested every year since 1970. As a result, our country has more trees today than in any year since 1920. And the tree population continues to rise.
Whether or not you believe in the phenomenon of global warming, caused by the world’s industrialization over the last 150 years, we know that well-managed, vigorously growing timberlands metabolize greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. These timberlands are, therefore, an extremely effective thermostat.
It is important to note that the paper and paper packaging side of our industry represents one of the most successful recycling systems in the world. Nearly 50 percent of all paper–including writing paper, newsprint and corrugated packaging–is recycled. This far exceeds rates for glass, aluminum and especially plastic.
Our industry employs approximately 1.6 million people and accounts for about 8 percent of our nation’s total manufacturing output. In fact, commercial timber is the country’s largest agricultural crop–even larger than wheat, corn, soybeans or citrus.
Because of their importance to our planet and our economy, our commercial timberlands must be protected for sustainable growth. We cannot afford to damage the soils and land that support this indispensable resource, nor the streams and lakes that border them, nor the animals that rely on them for subsistence and procreation. They are all necessary to maintain a healthy, ecologically balanced environment for the growth of commercial timber.
