It really turns into something that is almost indescribable in words. First, West Virginia loggers are cutting twice as much timber as they did 10 years ago, according to state Division of Forestry studies. The increase in cutting is expected to continue, especially as a new pulp and paper mill is built in Mason County. Second, many experts, including some in the logging business, aren't sure the forests in West Virginia can take the increased timber demand. The problem isn't that trees won't grow back.
Appalachian hardwoods sprout quickly from seeds.
Where they don't, the timber industry does plenty of planting. But some fear increased pressure for more wood to feed chipboard factories and pulp mills could turn the state's forests into little more than tree farms. Loggers could move into what little is left of the true old-growth forests in West Virginia. Instead of thick groves of old trees in a mature forest with a variety of animals and plants, West Virginia could be left with fields full of smaller trees grown as crops to feed the new plants, they fear. The West Virginia Development Office and the state Division of Forestry encourage more timber cutting.