It takes little energy to produce it compared to steel and aluminum. As long as forests are properly managed, new trees will grow to replace those cut to meet our wood needs. The forest products industry is sometimes criticized for cutting trees. The industry would not exist if we, as consumers, did not demand wood in our daily lives. In fact, our consumption of wood fiber continues to increase.
Many people mistakenly think that all our forests are being cut never to return.
Yearly, hundreds of millions of new trees are planted by industry foresters. More wood fiber is being grown than is being cut in the U.S. each year. There is not enough timber on private forest lands to meet the consumer demand. Because we use so much of the world's wood supply, Americans look very selfish to others in the world since we are not willing to even utilize the second-growth younger timber or thinnings in our national forests for wood products. As a result, the U.S. imports more lumber than any other country in the world.