Most people don’t realize that despite a sea of bad news about climate change, U.S. forests are thriving – with more trees living on American soil today than 50 years ago, covering one-third of U.S. land, and over 3.2 million new trees being planted every day.
The industry that makes wood and paper products plays an important role in forest preservation by growing and harvesting trees on sustainably managed farms. In fact, 39 percent of U.S. forestland sits on family-owned tree farms today, and about 90% of U.S.-sourced wood fiber comes from private landowners who are deeply invested in maintaining a sustainable crop to stay in business.
The trees they grow are used to produce renewable, recyclable packaging materials like corrugated boxes, among other things, allowing them to keep forests as forests – instead of selling to developers. The land is managed responsibly to optimize its long-term growing capacity.
Trees are constantly being replanted. Land is rejuvenated. And as the trees grow, they do what trees do best: they capture carbon out of the atmosphere, cleaning the air and helping mitigate climate change.
