A forest is an air conditioner, a soil stabilizer, a water purifier, and a wildlife zoo.
Trees pull in the carbon dioxide animals exhale and produce the oxygen animals breathe.
Trees provide habitat for thousands of different creatures including many rare, threatened, and endangered species. A regenerating clearcut can be as productive in terms of wildlife food as the most intensively managed farm. Forest products are the state's third largest manufacturing industry with more than 1,000 firms employing more than 30,000 people. The state's forested area has increased by over five percent since 1958. Over the same period, growing stock has increased by 99 percent.