The US consumes five times the volume of forest products per person as the average developing nation, and three times the planet's average. Only if the wood savings actually transforms itself by clear linkages into forest conservation does it contain an ecologic. So that you don't agree too easily that future softwood supply and relatively slow-moving prices are a sure thing, here are a few wild cards that should humble any prophet. The reduction of acid rain would help wood savings, ecosystems, and prices. Natural disasters appear to be more frequent.
Insurance companies lobby for subsidized taxpayer insurance to cover their own inadequate insurance.
With forests collapsing to hurricanes or frying in unexpected drought, the pricing of timber shows strange spikes with unpredictable impacts on purchases. For conservationists, the forest saved today may be the forest flattened tomorrow. Thoroughly artificial management of the new forests with pesticides, herbicides, and fire control confuses forest economists and conservationists. Economists have more difficulty predicting supply, forest health and growth, and price relationships. Under pressure from the public and the Forest Service, the industry has been developing harvesting machines that reduces erosion and fishery damage.