They have widespread impact on global temperatures and events. In a similar fashion, the several hundred active volcanoes effect the world's weather by putting tons of dust and other chemicals into the atmosphere. By comparison, human activities have virtually no real impact. Fully 737 million areas of the U.S. land mass are forest acres. Fully 247 million acres are reserved from harvest by law or represent slow-growing woodlands unsuitable for timber production.
Wood is a renewable natural resource and is completely recyclable.
The Federal government owns 456 million acres of forests, grazing lands, the minerals in and under those acres, as well as the wildlife and recreational amenities they represent. Currently, one third of all federal laws are devoted to the protection of the environment. In addition, U.S. federal law identifies as criminal fully 10,000 activities, based on 3,000 federal criminal laws.