Gifts of the Forest Where would we be without trees?

Ask a visitor from outside the southeastern United States to sum up his or her impressions of South Carolina. You're almost certain to hear something about Southern hospitality.

You'll also likely hear a comment or two about how lush and rich our state is: soothing greens and browns in almost every shade imaginable; sunbeam and shadow; scent of pines, cedars, wildflowers and rich humus; clear water flowing, cool breezes sighing; bird songs, squirrel chatter, a woodpecker's hammering on a hollow tree, and the shrill whistle of a red-tailed hawk, circling high above.

These are gifts of the forest -- gifts we so often take for granted. Without them our state would be a barren, silent place, like the imagined landscape of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

About 94 percent of all homes built in our country are made from wood. Wood and paper products also give us newspapers, magazines, boxes, containers for food and shipping, cosmetics, personal hygiene products, furniture and fuels. Just try to think of something you do during the day that has absolutely no relationship to a wood or paper product!

You're reading the morning paper. Did you already open all of yesterday's mail? Talk on the phone last night? Watch TV? Get in your car and take in a movie, or go to a concert, a park?

You couldn't have done any of these things without a paper or wood product. The same is true if you just got up, brought in the paper, grabbed a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal with fruit, took a quick shower, combed your hair and brushed your teeth. Those coffee beans, that fruit and the bag or box it came in, that clean, clear shower, your rubber comb and your toothpaste -- all came from trees.

If any of the above surprises you, don't worry. Most of us take these gifts of the forest for granted. Perhaps this is because these products and more are so readily available and so much a part of our daily lives. You only notice such things when they don't exist. Say the buttons fell off your pajamas, or your favorite recliner or couch and the floor you're sitting on suddenly weren't there. You'd think of wood then.

Materials for our homes, our clothing, our food and medicines, our transportation, communications, and recreation -- all are gifts of the forest. And did you know that using wood for these things is more energy efficient and cost effective than any known alternative, including steel, aluminum and plastic?

South Carolina's forests shelter more than 12.6 million acres, or about two-thirds of our state's land area. And, since 1936, when forests were first surveyed here, forest land has increased by 1.9 million acres.

Then, why do some folks see a logging truck rolling down the road to the mill, or a tract of land just timbered, and express concern that we're depleting our forests and running out of trees?

Perhaps such fears are brought about by the fact that our state's population is rapidly expanding. As our economy grows, so do the demands being placed on our forests, for products, recreation and other uses.

Timber is our state's most valued agricultural crop, producing in excess of $762 million annually in delivered stumpage or unmanufactured forest products. Our state's timberland and timber resources are valued in excess of $9 billion.

Are we really in danger of losing our forest lands? Can we ensure the health and growth of our forests for future generations while harvesting them at present, or even higher, rates?

Trees are our state's number-one-valued agricultural crop. Forest products compose the state's third largest manufacturing industry, with more than 1,000 firms employing more than 30,000 of your fellow South Carolinians. These members of South Carolina's forestry community understand that public concerns about the future of our forests, forest management and harvest practices are sincere. Yet, good ol' common sense should tell us that the people and companies who rely on healthy, productive forest land for their own livelihoods have the most at stake when it comes to making certain our forests remain abundant, healthy and productive. And this is certainly true in South Carolina.

Still, the land base under management for wood products is shrinking. Urbanization in coastal counties and in metropolitan areas will continue, resulting in a smaller usable land base for commercial forestry.

So how is it we're not running out of trees?

The answer began almost a century ago in western North Carolina, near the town of Brevard. Forestry as a science in our country began there when Gifford Pinchot began forest productivity experiments on land now in the Pisgah National Forest, then part of the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Forest. Pinchot went on to found the U.S. Forest Service and establish a public conservation career that earned him recognition as the "father of modern forestry."

The advent of southern pine plantations began after 1930. Periods of cotton and other farming, exploitative harvesting of timber and firewood, and similar land-use practices left much of our state deforested and badly eroded. Establishing tree plantations became an effective way to restore and protect these poor lands.

Ideal topography, rainfall and major markets have established the southeastern United States as a major producer of forest products. More than 72 percent of this forest land is in small, individually owned tracts where intensive forestry management is rarely practiced. Some 18 percent is owned and managed by large forest industries, while public ownership accounts for the remainder, almost 10 percent.

Much has changed since the early days. Forest management has become more sophisticated. Yet, pine plantations still play a vital role in modern forestry. Plantation tracts are now designed and arranged in a landscape setting that enhances wildlife habitat. Improved seedling genetics with resistance to disease, faster growth rates, higher timber yields and wood quality are the results of research and intensive tree farming. But such intensively managed forests have another potential benefit most of us never think about.

Our demand to set aside unique areas increases as we see the infrastructure, housing and industry of our society spreading. Concentrating wood crop production in a plantation can allow less pressure on other natural areas while maintaining necessary forest product production and income. Plantation tracts can allow landowners to use other portions of their property for different objectives, including the preservation of our more fragile and unusual woodlands and wetlands. In fact, nationally, more than 36 million acres of commercially productive forest land are reserved from timber harvest in parks, wilderness areas and similar designations.

What about our hardwoods? More and more of these are going to the mills each day. Are we running out of hardwood trees?

The relative amounts of pine and hardwood forest land have not changed much over the past 60 years. In fact, only about one in every five forest acres is actually in pine plantation. Most forest lands are a mix of wood types, with predominantly pine types (more than 50 percent pine) actually occupying only about 45 percent.

Forests are not created overnight. And, foresters, by necessity, are planners, looking ahead to consider the changes that will occur and what each means for the management of the land. Genetic improvement, protection, nurturing the growing crop, and much more efficient utilization of harvested trees have allowed more intelligent use of our natural resources. Forests must be managed for timber and wood products, but they must also sustain life for plants, animals and people. Finding practical solutions to real-life problems, exploring unknown areas, and developing new schemes of management and new products represent the challenges faced by modern forestry. Land stewardship management based on sound ecological principles is the key.

That South Carolina's commercial forest companies are committed in their role as caretakers of our woodland environment is shown through their voluntary adoption of Sustainable Forestry Initiative principles. In September 1998, International Paper became our nation's first forest products company to earn International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification for its environmental management system on 1.2 million acres throughout the Carolinas and Georgia.

"ISO, located in Geneva, Switzerland, bases its certification on how effectively a company's policies implement a system for meeting identified standards for environmental management," said Bob Scott, President of the South Carolina Forestry Association. "It includes reforesting every acre of land harvested and implementing conservation practices such as stream-side zones and wildlife corridors to protect and promote water quality, wildlife diversity and aesthetics. This ISO designation also means that trees in the certified forest lands will be harvested according to the best available scientific guidelines and that the company's compliance will be monitored and evaluated every six months to maintain its certification.

"The concept of forest certification began in Europe several years ago. It is primarily consumer driven. While International Paper is the first US corporation to certify its timberlands, I anticipate that other domestic forest and paper companies will eventually adopt some form of independent third party certification."

Although we're a small state, South Carolina ranks 5th nationally in number of tree seedlings planted annually. Across America, annual tree growth exceeds the amount of wood harvested by almost 33 percent. Our nation has more trees today than we had 70 years ago, which is two-thirds of the forest land that existed when Columbus discovered America!

So don't sweat it. You needn't worry about running out of trees, or the wood and paper products they give us. Just thank your lucky stars that we are truly blessed with a renewable forest resource in South Carolina.

The people who care for South Carolina's forests are working together to provide the paper and wood products we need in harmony with clean air and water, increased recreation and abundant wildlife. Our forests, to these individuals, are much more than a resource of jobs and economic welfare. They are the key to South Carolina's quality of life -- her heritage and her future.