Per capita consumption of wood in the U.S. in 1900 was 144 cubic feet per year, but had declined to 78 cubic feet per year in 1994. This was due in part to less use of firewood, fencing and railroad ties. Harvesting mature and over mature trees is natural. Forests grow through sequential stages. It begins with the initiation of a stand and ends with old growth.
Nature never lets forests stay in any one stage forever.
There is a continuous cycle of growth, decline, death, decay and renewal. Speeding up the rate of cutting on some over mature stands may be justified for it is a fact that fire, insects and decay consume as much timber as man. Plastics, aluminum, steel and concrete are frequently mentioned as substitutes for wood, and it is assumed that increasing use of these products will help protect forests. But wood is the only natural resource on earth that is renewable, recyclable, biodegradable and reusable. Although wood accounts for 47 percent of all primary industrial raw material consumed in the U.S., solid wood manufacturing processes for lumber and plywood consumes only four percent of all energy consumed in the manufacture of primary industrial raw materials.