Industry News
MYTH: Making Paper Destroys Forests.
FACT: No, in fact the Opposite is True.
The concept of managed forests means that for every tree harvested, several more are planted or naturally regenerated in their place. In fact, according to the USDA Forest Service, four million trees are planted every day in the United States.
Of this amount, the wood and paper products industry plants on average 1.7 million trees daily1, excluding millions of additional seedlings regenerated naturally. In Canada, natural regeneration is supplemented by the planting of 600 million seedlings per year.2 Increasing demand for forest products has provided powerful incentive for private landowners to reforest their harvest.
According to The State of America’s Forests, a report released by the Society of American Foresters, replanting and reforestation efforts have helped keep forestland stable. There are nearly 750 million acres of forests in the U.S. —about the same as 100 years ago. Annual net growth of U.S. forests is 36 percent higher than the volume of annual tree removals. Total forest cover in the U.S. and Canada basically remained the same from 1990 to 2005.3 Furthermore, less than one half of one percent of Canada’s forestland is harvested annually.4 Sustainable forests are also carefully managed to help prevent catastrophic damage from fires, disease and insects.
Information courtesy of Domtar