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> Timber plantings account for a large portion of US land. Really? I can't imagine it's very big compared to agriculture, but maybe that's my midwestern bias?
by throwaway894345 4y ago
> Timber plantings account for a large portion of US land.
Really? I can't imagine it's very big compared to agriculture, but maybe that's my midwestern bias? Do you have any figures handy (specifically for commercial timber rather than timber for other purposes e.g., hunting)?
> Additionally timber likes to make claims like "we plant 2 trees for every 1 harvested." What they don't tell you is that half the trees won't make it to the next clear, and often smaller/weaker/sick trees are culled before a full clear to make room for better ones to grow.
That sounds pretty slimy, but the headline is that there are more trees. If timber is driving it, I would think the bigger concern would be over the homogeneity of the trees and the incumbent ecosystem damage?
Lastly, I would guess (perhaps wrongly) that palm oil and banana plantations are driving the inorganic growth (I haven't yet read the article--shame on me, etc--so perhaps I'm speculating unnecessarily)
- Manuel_D 4y agoI think the idea is that timber is a lot less labor intensive. Agriculture almost certainly produces more $ per M^2, but it takes a lot of work planting, fertilizing, and harvesting every year. Timber plantings, judging by what the above commenter wrote, probably consists of planting saplings from a tree nursery then waiting a decade or two for them to mature.
- misterprime 4y agoThere could also be a higher risk in an agricultural crop completely failing due to unlucky weather compared to the risk of a timber crop failing.
- jameshart 4y agoForests have a nasty habit of catching fire though.
- lettergram 4y agoI’m sure they are insured via some mechanism.
- xboxnolifes 4y agoSo are crops.
- maxerickson 4y agoMega fires aren't really an issue in most of the Midwest. There's large forest fires, but the fuel load isn't extremely high and there are not extended dry seasons. Like here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (where timber is a primary landuse) there have been some big fires, but they don't compare in size or frequency to the fires out west.
- jameshart 4y agoThis article has some great visualizations of US land use: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-us-land-use/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-us-land-use/ About a quarter of US land is dedicated to ‘unprotected’ timber. About ten percent of that belongs to one single business - https://www.weyerhaeuser.com/ https://www.weyerhaeuser.com/ Agriculture is a little less (about a fifth), pasture is a little more (about a third) - although that includes range land which is barely ‘land use’ at all.
- sthu11182 4y agobeat me to posting that. I do agree its a great visualization.
- legitster 4y agoNot sure where you are getting your math here. From the article: "Weyerhaeuser Co. is the largest private owner of timberlands in the U.S. With 12.4 million acres, the company controls 2.3 percent of all commercially available timber" We have some Weyerhauser "timberland" by us - I can say they are much more like intensive agriculture than forests. I wouldn't worry about replanting on them - you better believe Weyerhauser uses every square foot of their land to grow trees on.
- jameshart 4y agoYou are correct, I misread that as 2.3% of US (which is about 10% of 25%), rather than the correct 2.3% of timberland. So, only 2.3% of 25% - or .6% of the US. Thanks for the fact-check.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]