There are many eco-friendly US homeowners who ask this question and the short answer is yes. Hardwood timber is grown on massive plantations and is harvested using specific cycles, making it sustainable.
Sustainable Forestry
For centuries, we have felled trees as and when needed without giving a thought to the future, yet today, we harvest lumber in a sustainable manner, using a lumber mill located in Baltimore County, which is supplied by local loggers. The timber is used for a variety of purposes; hardwood flooring, furniture, and premium mulch, which is made from unsuitable lumber, and these lumber mills are dotted around the US and with replanting every year, cycle of tree harvesting ensures sustainability.
Selective Logging
The key to successful lumber harvesting is selective logging, which utilises natural selection, allowing the forest to manage itself to a large degree (Mother Nature does fine without our help). Staggered planting ensures that, if you target an amount of lumber, you can harvest sustainably, as long as you stick to your quotas. Governments commission scientists to advise on ecological management and with their help, sustainable forests are managed, with the focus on continuous staggered growth. Now that weed is legal, here are a few benefits of cannabis, hailed as the wonder plant!
Manage Felling
When felling, great care should be taken not to damage surrounding trees; skilled tree fellers can drop a tree on a cross, while there are amazing machines that strip and fell trees while the lumber is still vertical. Trees should be spaced far enough apart so they do not compete, which can stunt growth and soil management is another factor of forest management. When you look at the food chain in a forest environment, if one predator is not present, this upsets many aspects, including soil fertility; balance is essential and this can be achieved over a period of a few years.
Natural Reseeding
We must never forget that nature has its own way of reproducing, which doesn’t mean we never plant seedlings, we do. Parent trees should be selected and given the space they need to spread seeds. The scientists involved spend a lot of time studying good examples of natural forest, to gain an in-depth understanding of what is happening. They can then apply this knowledge to new forest developments, which are in place around the world in order to increase tree numbers. Click here for information on forest management from the US government.
Composites
The development of composite materials and 3D printing is expected to reduce the global demand for lumber, while managed hardwood plantations provide much of the timber used today. One thing we do need to stop is the destruction of rainforests, especially in the Amazon basin, where a hundred football fields are lost every day. Profits drive the illegal logging sector and as long as politicians will take bribes, forests will be plundered and great emphasis is put on this with NGOs around the world, while scientists are very vocal as to what they think.
