TIMBER HARVEST/USE OF FOREST PRODUCTS

Did You Know?

The oldest tree:

The oldest recorded living tree is a bristlecone pine on Wheeler Peak in Eastern Nevada. It is 4,900 years old!

The tallest tree:

The tallest tree is named "National Geographic Tree" in Redwood National Park, California. It is 364.3 feet tall, or as tall as a 30-story building!

++ Georgia-Pacific "Educational in Nature" pamphlet. Vol. 5-"The Forester's Job" 8/97

Chemicals from trees:

How can we create so many different chemical products from trees? When chemicals are removed from the tree and mixed with other chemicals, a reaction occurs. The energy from this reaction can create a completely different chemical. This is how chemicals from trees can be used to make products as different as artificial vanilla favoring and frames for your eyeglasses.

Georgia Pacific "FROM THE FOREST", Education in nature pamphlet Vol. 1-11/97

Wood Words to Know:

Cellulose - wood fiber

Lignin - a glue-like chemical that holds a tree's wood fibers together

Synthetic - not found in nature

Cubic Feet, Cords, Boards and other Materials:

A cubic foot of anything (including wood) is 1 foot by 1 foot by 1foot

Besides talking in cubic feet, foresters also talk in board feet: that's a piece of wood measuring 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 inch. Sawtimber is commonly measured by the thousands board feet. 12 board feet equals 1 cubic foot.

Foresters also talk in CORDS: A pile of wood 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet. That takes up 128 cubic feet, but since trees are round and irregular, there are air spaces between the sticks. Thus, a cord of wood actually has only 80-90 cubic feet of solid wood.

1,000 BOARD FEET OF WOOD MAKES:

15,000,000 toothpicks
2,000-4,000 pounds of paper (depending on the process)
1,884 - one-pound books
122,740 #10 envelopes
8,768,000 commemorative-size postage stamps
920,000 personal checks
179,740 sheets of letterhead bond paper, 8.5"x11"
2,400 copies of National Geographic
60 Boston Rockers
24 dining room tables (with eight chairs)

How much wood will you need in your lifetime?

In one year, each man, woman and child in Washington State uses the equivalent two trees 75 feet tall and about 18 inches in diameter.

Just how old is an old-growth forest?

Although it sometimes is defined by age, the term "old-growth" usually refers to a particular set of characteristics common to forests that have grown without significant change from fire, disease, or humans, for a long time - maybe 200 years. Because trees live a long time, we often think of them as permanent. But they really aren't. If they don't succumb to natural threats like fires, insects, or wind storms, trees eventually die of old age.

How do you recognize an old-growth forest when you see it?

After all, a stand of second-growth Douglas-fir just 70 years old can include trees up to 3 feet thick and 170 feet tall. Impressive as this is, it's not old growth. In old-growth areas, look for an abundance of big trees, with complex layers of branches, and foliaged at the crown. You'll also notice lots of dead and decaying wood on the forest floor, both in the form of logs and standing dead trees.

Replanting forests:

Throughout winter and spring, over 200,000 trees per day are planted on private forest land in Washington - about three trees for every one harvested. Altogether, it comes to 35 million new trees each year.

Where do seedlings come from?

Nearly all come from tree nurseries, right here in Washington. Most seedlings are grown from seed collected from trees that have desirable genetic traits, such as fast growth, and are cultivated from the same area where they will be replanted. Strong seedlings help ensure our third-growth forests will be strong and healthy. Visit the Black Mountain Forestry Center web site for some nursery locations in Washington State. (http://www.blackmountainforestry.com)