 | There are a total of 247 billion trees above 1"
diameter in the US on all lands, according to the last forest inventory.
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| The science of forestry was established in the
United States at the turn of the century, at a time when vast areas of
forests had been cut down with little thought of the future. Foresters
have done a magnificent job in restoring America’s forests. Our forests
now grow nearly four times more wood each year than in 1920.
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| There are 747 million acres of forestland in the
United States, about 71% as much as there was in 1630.
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| America's forests are owned by private individuals
(54%), public agencies (37%), and private industries (9%).
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| Each year about 1.4 billion tree seedlings are
planted – roughly four million a day – more than making up for those that
are harvested. If you include naturally regenerated trees the net growth
exceeds the harvesting by 33% due to good forest management.
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| The average American uses about 749 pounds of
paper every year and 95% of the houses built are done so using wood. That
means that the average person uses the equivalent of a 100 foot high, 16
inches in diameter tree each year for their wood and paper needs.
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| Parks, wildlife refuges, and other preserves span
166 million acres of the nation’s total land mass; and the National
Wilderness Preservation System covers an additional 104 million acres – a
total of 270 million acres set aside for parks, refuges, or wilderness
areas. The first set aside wilderness area was the Gila in New Mexico,
with Aldo Leopold, a forester, as its primary advocate.
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| The forest industry ranks among the top 10
employers in 40 of the 50 states.
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| About 45 percent of the paper consumed in the
United States is recovered for recycling. Recycled paper, however, is not
"pure" so it must contain some new wood fiber for strength.
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| Three well-placed mature trees around a house can
cut air-conditioning costs by 10-50 percent, while trees and other
landscaping can increase property value by 5-10 percent.
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| One mature tree absorbs approximately 13 pounds of
carbon dioxide a year. For every ton of wood a forest grows, it removes
1.47 tons of carbon dioxide and replaces it with 1.07 tons of oxygen.
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| Today, the United States has about the same amount
of land covered by trees (or slightly less) as it did in 1907. |
