18 The Mainline As We See It (ALC) This three-word title could end with a period, an exclamation point, or a question mark. For this article, my intent is to stay with an exclamation point. I’ll set the stage for the “exclamation point” with a few facts as follows. Currently, over 56% of America’s 760 million acres of forest is privately held by approximately 10 million family forest owners. The vast majority of these private ownerships are east of the Mississippi. (The majority of these eastern forest landowners are well aware of the many western forestry challenges (debacles) and hope they stay ... west!) The western loggers might choose the title to read “What’s Going Right?” with a question mark. Regardless, optimism can be found in the fact that the majority of America’s forests are privately owned and cared for by tree farmers across our country who see wisdom in managing for multiple uses, while profiting from a renewable resource—trees. I think if we can all “hang on” for a bit longer, America’s trees, and the loggers who harvest them, will soon be more highly valued. Here’s why I say that. Wood, in the form of lumber, the renewable resource and product we understand, is steadily becoming the world’s preferred building material. Alex de Rijke, director of the London-based cross laminated timber (CLT) firm, dRMM, put it this way, “Timber is the new concrete. ... the 17th century was the age of stone, the 18th century was the peak of brick. The 19th century was the age of iron, and the 20th century the century of concrete. The 21st century will be the time for timber.” Canadian architect Michael Green summarizes it like this: “Climate change and the need for more urban housing collide in a crisis that demands building solutions with low energy and low carbon footprints. As a renewable material grown by the power of the sun, wood offers a new way to think about our future.” The fact that architects and builders are embracing CLT as the preferred building product for the future should be viewed by us loggers as a major “exclamation point” to tag onto “What’s Going Right.” Here are a few more points to consider. The average person can go about three weeks without eating. Thank God that we have the world’s best farmers and ranchers feeding America and so many others. That same average person will expire in about three to five days without water, and in about three minutes without oxygen. Hydrologists estimate that 60–70% of America’s water flows out of our forested watersheds. On average, scientists estimate that one acre of trees can produce enough oxygen for 18 people to continually breathe freely. And who is entrusted to work in our forests, watersheds, and airsheds that provide us with the very essence of life? The American logger! That trust is the foundation for this title “What’s Going “What’s Going Right” ›By Mike Albrecht, Sierra Resource Management Inc. – Jamestown, CA Mike Albrecht President, American Loggers Council O p toi mf Ai smme rc iacna ’ bs ef of roeusnt sd ai nr et hp er i fvaactte tl yh aotwt hnee dmaanj odr i t y cs ae ree wd if sodr obmy ti rne me faanr amg ei nr gs af oc rr oms su lot ui pr l ec ouus ne tsr, ywwh ihl eo profiting from a renewable resource—trees.
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