I have heard the statement made, “burning wood ruins the environment and wastes our natural resources!” I have burnt wood for almost forty years, heating my home and wanted to check the facts on this subject. Doing some research, I found the following information.
Does burning wood deplete the forests in the United States? No, it does not, and the statistics show the opposite. We (the USA as a whole) are planting more trees than we are using each and every year for the past 30 years.
Much of the research that I used for this comes from the US Forest service and is quite convincing that the trend is toward more trees being planted every year in the US despite the population growth and sprawl of our cities. Here is what I found.
History of Forestation in the United States
We (mankind) have used wood for heat for thousands of years. Wood is one of the truly renewable sources of heat we have been blessed with on this earth. Once coal or oil is burnt, it is not replaceable. Trees can be and are replanted daily, fully replacing the fuel that was burnt.
Of course, trees can take a generation or more to replenish themselves, but as we look at a tree as a renewable source of fuel, it is replaceable.
Past generations did not take a long term view of trees and the environment in general as something to be conserved and preserved. Today the effects of this mistaken thinking and mismanagement are apparent, but many of these practices can be and are being reversed.
The reforestation of trees is one of those obvious mistakes that has already been reversed and is making an impact in the United States daily. The data available deals with timber usage as a whole in all aspects of the cutting of trees. The majority of trees cut are used for lumber in construction, and the remains are used in paper and cardboard manufacturing. A very small percentage of trees cut is used for home heating.
When Europeans first reached the United States in mass in the 1600s, trees were cut for construction and home heating with little regard for conservation. This practice continued until early 1900. Around 1910 the idea that we must conserve our natural resources began to get traction. The first National Parks were founded, and conservation of trees was something everyday citizens saw as good stewardship of our land.
In a paper produced by the USDA titled, U.S. Forest Resource Facts and Historical Trends, the trend becomes clear that started around 1910 and by 1990 was a complete reversal of the decline in U.S. forest acres and began an increase of acres of forest ever since.
We are now planting more trees every year than what is being cut down by all users of trees, including construction, paper manufacturing, and firewood.
Quality/Type of Trees Harvested
If we have already reversed the trend and are consuming fewer trees than planting, is there more that can be done to conserve? There is especially in the area of burning wood, but let’s look at the industrial side of tree harvesting first.
Looking at the construction industry and the use of wood products, the majority of materials used for construction are not wood products in the commercial market. Most commercial and industrial buildings are erected with steel stud frames today. The move to construct these building out of fire retardant materials is growing.
While residential construction is still based primarily on wood frame construction, the wood used is almost exclusively a pine product. Pine trees are plentiful; they grow straight and are lightweight.
Pines also grow very fast, most varieties of pine grow between one and two feet taller per year. Pine trees will typically be harvested between 25 and 35 years after planting. Trees that are crooked, too small, or have other defects are still harvested but used for other products. They may be used for fence posts, chipped for pellets, ground up for paper or cardboard, or used in plywood.
There is very little waste as the wood industry has found multiple uses for the excess material that used to be discarded. Areas that are cleared of trees are then re-planted with seedlings. The cycle is restarted.
Wood for Burning
The types of trees cut for burning are not soft cutting, fast-growing pine trees. The best wood to burn is a hardwood, and this is due to the consistency of hardwood vs. softwood (pine). The denser material makeup of hardwoods makes hardwood the best choice to burn for heat.
Hardwood burns hotter and longer than softwood. Wood types are rated in BTU’s (British Thermal Unit) per cord of wood. Choosing a wood to burn that has a higher BTU rating will provide more heat output and will burn longer between re-filing your stove. If your primary heat source is a wood stove, re-filling one time a day less will save a large amount of wood over the season, and save you time and energy every day.
How Many Trees Planted
According to the Bugwood Network, 1.6 billion trees are planted in the United States every year. 43% of those are planted by forest industry companies. Another 40% are planted by individuals, and 16% are planted by government agencies.
The large amount of trees planted by the commercial forestry industry is why we (the U.S.) have turned around the tide and now plant more trees than are harvested. This is done not because of government regulations but due to the self-understanding of the forestry industry that replacing the trees they use is not only good for future business but good for the future.
Clearing a Forest
The natural plan for forests requires that trees be cleared out. Large areas of forest area are designed to be cleared and started over. The first trees to grow in a new forest are pine trees.
When a fire ignites a forest (naturally by lighting), the entire forest is cleared of all trees and brush. Pinecones, the seed of a pine tree need to be burnt to produce a seed that grows. A forest fire accomplishes this, and new pine trees grow soon after a fire clears the area.
The seeds to other types of trees are dropped by birds and animals gathering fruit and nuts (walnuts, acorns, etc.). By clearing a forest and re-planting, a similar process has occurred, and the forest restarts.
Conclusion
As we move well into the 21 century, there are many areas where conservation of the resources we have been entrusted with requires oversight and management. What we leave for future generations is part of our legacy.
The lessons we have learned here in the United States are paying dividends in some areas like the conservation of trees. We are on a good path in caring for a resource that can be used responsibly and replaced if we continue to replace trees at the current rate we are replanting.