subject: Tree Removal Norcross - Are Trees A Renewable And Sustainable Resource? [print this page] To be renewable resource trees must be replaceable by new growth and to be sustainable trees would have to be replaceable at a rate equal to the tree removal rate.
Trees are definitely renewable in most all environments but in some areas they are not sustainable.
For example here in Georgia and the rest of the southern United States pine trees are the most popular tree for timber. This is due to their fast growth cycle. They can be harvested for pulpwood (paper, fuel pellets, etc) after 20-25 years or they can be thinned at 20 years yielding some pulpwood and harvested at 30+ years producing more valuable lumber. Even faster growth cycles are achieved with hybrid poplar in the southwestern United States. So with regard to lumber for housing, paper and fuel pellets, trees are both renewable and sustainable. So in the United States as long as the land is replanted and care is taken to avoid erosion problems etc during the harvesting trees are an excellent renewable and sustainable resource.
Unfortunately not all tree removal is being done responsibly, timber is being harvested from some areas of the world with no replanting and without the rapid growth cycle we have in the United States. Rain-forest timber growth cycles can be up to hundreds of years if replanted and in most instances they are converted to farm land and lost forever. The results of this may not be known for centuries and by then it may be too late to repair the damage.
For example you can choose to support efforts in the rainforest or you can keep your dollars growing trees and jobs in the United States. Chipper LLC Tree Service donates to this project planting trees in our home state of Georgia.
