• The average tree takes in 1.4 pounds of carbon dioxide and gives off a pound of oxygen for every pound of wood grown. Carbon is stored in wood. That means the tree will trap this carbon until it burns or decays.
  • The United States has 738 million acres of forestland.
  • Total Forest Growth exceeds the amount harvested each year since the 1940’s
  • Annual hardwood growth rate surpasses harvest by 70 percent.
  • Each year 1.7 billion trees are planted in the United States – more than five trees for every man, woman and child in America – an average of 4.8 million seedlings each day.
  • Scientists estimate lumber manufacturing consumes just 4% of the energy used by all raw materials manufacturers. Steel and concrete manufacturers consume 56%. A steel stud requires 21 times as much energy to produce and releases 15 times the sulfur dioxide as a wood 2×4. Producing concrete emits up to 3 times more carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon that lumber production.

Information from the Hardwood Forest Foundation (www.hardwoodforest.org).