Forest Facts

In 1995, over 1.6 billion tree seedlings were planted in the U.S. -- that's more than 5 new trees for each American.

There are 737 million acres of forest land in the U.S.

Ginkgo trees provided food for dinosaurs, and yet they can still be found in backyards today. The single, oldest living thing on Earth is a tree, a 4,700 year old bristlecone pine tree in California. It was growing when the Egyptians built the pyramids.

Most forest products (things made from trees) are recyclable.

Trees are renewable resource. We can plant more trees, and we do!

Recycling helps save landfill space. When you recycle used paper, the forest products industry uses it as a valuable raw material to make new paper products.

About one-third of the United States is covered by forests.

America's forest and paper companies are committed to the goal of sustainable forestry -- a dynamic concept that balances the need for forest products with the need to protect and conserve our environment.

Sawdust and wood shavings, saved from manufacturing wood products, are recycled to help make paper grocery bags, corrugated boxes and other products.

Thanks to today's new technologies, up to 98% of a tree can be used -- with hardly any waste.

More trees are grown through replanting and natural regeneration than are harvested in the U.S. each year.

Forests are oxygen factories. To grow a pound of wood, a tree uses 1.47 pounds of carbon dioxide and gives off 1.07 pounds of oxygen.