They provide homes for hundreds of wildlife species. And they inspire and enrich us with their beauty. Trees also provide us with hundreds of wood and paper products that we use every day. Managing forests, and producing the products that come from the forest, also creates jobs and generates revenue that supports communities and projects, such as the building of schools. Every day, everywhere in the world, every person uses wood.
Wood is one of Earth's most important resources.
It shows up in homes and other buildings, paper products, furnishings and tools. In addition to these, more than 5,000 other products come from or contain ingredients from trees. That's about one billion board feet, enough to build a community of 77,000 average-sized homes. The production of forest products is the second-largest manufacturing industry in the Pacific Northwest. At the turn of the 21st century, the forest products industry employed over 100,000 people in Washington and Oregon.