Some students traveling through the first floor of Bessey Hall may have noticed a new display on the bulletin board. The display encourages students to boycott certain stores because their paper sales “Destroy Forest”, particularly in the southeastern United States.

There are some important facts that were not mentioned in the display. First, there are more trees in America today than 70 years ago. Each year, the U.S. forest community plants 1.5 billion seedlings. That’s an average of five million new trees planted every day. In fact, at least five new trees are planted each year for every man, woman and child in America and millions more grow from natural regeneration.

Approximately 47 million acres of U.S. land are reserved for parks and wilderness areas. These areas are not harvested. Since 1952, 4 percent, or 19 million acres, of timberland has been reclassified as a wilderness or park. Increased efficiencies in the paper making process, recycling, and faster growing tree species have allowed us to preserve this land.

In the United States, 49 percent of harvested trees are used for lumber and plywood, 28 percent for pulpwood (mostly paper), and 23 percent for other products. You may be surprised to learn that one-third of the raw material used to make the paper is residue wood chips and scraps left behind from forest and sawmill operations.

Another one-third of the fiber is from recovered or recycled paper. Today, recycled paper accounts for 38 percent of the total fiber needed. Why not all of it? The current world’s demand for paper is too great to be covered by recycled paper. In addition, wood fibers can only be recycled 5 to 7 times before the fibers are too short or “worn out.” To put it briefly, we will always have to cut some trees to meet the demand for paper.

Perhaps we should divert our energies into better recycling programs and cut down on our own unnecessary printing. Remember, trees are a renewable resource and many of the alternatives are not. Besides, who wants to substitute steel wool for their toilet paper and Kleenex?

Chris Feeley

Extension

Forestry