Some of these products are obvious such as lumber but others such as paper, photographic film, imitation vanilla flavoring, and rayon are not as evident. It takes 60-80 years to grow a tree 100 feet tall. It is very important that we replant tres that have been harvested or destroyed by fire, insects, disease or blow downs if we are to continue to have an adequate timber supply. It is also very important that we practice conservation of our natural resources. This means that we must use the trees we do have wisely by using as much of the tree as is possible, minimize waste, take only what we need from the forest and plant new trees to replace those that are harvested.
Trees are very important for other reasons besides the products they provide.
They clean the air, buffer noise, give wildlife homes and sources of food, protect the soil from erosion, protect the watershed, and give us oxygen. It is hard to put a dollar value on these benefits. The trees you plant at your home will probably be planted differently than the trees you will plant in the forest. First, the site in your yard may be different and would require a different tree species. The tree you plant at home will probably be larger and will have a root ball usually wrapped in burlap.