Our forests provide us with many products
that we use daily. Some are obvious, such as the paper that this
newsletter is printed on. Lumber for housing and furniture, wood
for pencils and toys, and the multitude of paper products easily
come to mind when one is asked to name a forest product. Most
people would be surprised however, by the number and variety of
forest products that dominate their lives. Our forests provide
many foods and chemicals. Cellulose extracted from plants
provides rigidity to plastic items and thickens many liquids,
such as paint and shampoo.
Wood and paper products are reusable,
recyclable and biodegradable. They typically require much less
energy to produce in comparison to other materials. Our forests
are a naturally renewable resource. Harvesting trees for wood
products creates openings in the forest canopy. This allows
sunlight to reach the forest floor and enable natural
regeneration to occur. These openings also create edges and
diversify habitat to improve conditions for many animal and bird
species.
Our forests also provide us with clean
water to drink and air to breathe. The oxygen upon which we
depend is actually a by-product of tree growth. To grow a pound
of wood, a tree uses 1.47 pounds of carbon dioxide and
gives off 1.07 pounds of oxygen. However, when a tree
begins to decay, the process reverses: 1.07 pounds of oxygen is
used up and 1.47 pounds of carbon dioxide is put back into the
air.
As for clean water, forests play an
irreplaceable part in the water cycle. Trees absorb water from
the soil and through the process of evapotranspiration release
clean water vapor into the air. The 200,000 leaves on a healthy
100-foot tree can take 11,000 gallons of water from the soil and
"breathe" it into the air in a single growing season.
The cooling effect of all that air is said to be the equivalent
of air conditioning for 12 rooms. The tree roots also stabilize
soil and impede runoff, helping to keep surface waters such as
rivers and lake clean.
Forty years ago, Congress created National
Forest Products Week as a time to recognize the many products
that come from our forests and to honor the industry which
produces them.
National Forest Products Week offers us
the chance to ask people to think about the forest products
industry and how it contributes to their lives.
