• Americans recycle much more paper than we send to landfills.

• Most of an average household's waste- including paper, paper grocery bags, corrugated boxes, cans, and bottles- can be recycled. Food scraps and yard waste can be composted.

• Nearly 70% of the 24 billion newspapers published in the U.S. each year are recovered for recycling. When you recycle your used paper, paper mills use it to make new paper products.

• 84% of all Americans are recycling used paper at curbside or recycling drop-off sites.

• Each and every day, Americans recover for reuse and recycling more than 247 million pounds of paper.

• In 1998, nearly 45% of all the paper Americans used was recovered for recycling. America's forest & paper companies are committed to recovering 50% of all the paper Americans use. We're almost there, and you can help by recycling your used paper today!

• Kids are helping to get recycling programs started. They visit Town Hall, make speeches, write letters to the editor and get things done!

• Paper collected for recycling must always be separated from "contaminants" such as plastic wraps, glass or food waste.

• 45 million tons of paper were recovered in the United States in 1998- an average of 336 pounds per person.

• Enough paper is collected for recycling each year to fill a boxcar train 7,600 miles long.

• Nearly 218,000 tons of shredded paper is used each year for animal bedding.

• In the U.S. more than one-third of the fiber used to make new paper products comes from recycled paper.

• The sturdy brown or white boxes we used to pack things in are called corrugated boxes. They have a layer of paper- which has been corrugated and looks ruffly- glued between two more flat pieces of paper. 75% of all corrugated boxes are collected for recycling.

Amazing Forest Facts

Each year, the forest community plants 1.5 billion tree seedlings in the United States- that's more than 5 new trees for each American, and nearly 2,000 for every bear.

• There are 737 million acres of forest land in the U.S. Most forest products (things made from trees) are recyclable.

• Trees are a renewable resource. We can plant more trees, and we do!

• About one-third of the United States is covered by forests.

• Ginkgo trees provided food for dinosaurs, and yet they can still be found in backyards today. The single, oldest living thing on Earth is a tree, a 4,700 year old bristlecone pine tree in California. It was growing when the Egyptians built the pyramids.

• Forests are oxygen factories. To grow a pound of wood, a tree uses 1.47 pounds of carbon dioxide and gives off 1.07 pounds of oxygen.

• America's forest and paper companies are committed to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)^SM program, which balances the need for forest products with the need to protect and conserve our environment.

• More trees are grown through replanting and natural regeneration than are harvested in the U.S. each year.

• Thanks to today's new technologies, close to 100% of a tree can be used- with hardly any waste.

• More than 5000 things are made from trees: houses, furniture, baseball bats, crutches, fences, garden mulch, books, newspapers, movie tickets- even clothing, carpeting and toothpaste.

• Sawdust and wood shavings, saved from manufacturing wood products, are recycled to help make paper grocery bags, corrugated boxes and other products.

For more fun facts on forestry and recycling, contact:
American Forest & Paper Association.
1111 19^th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036
Or visit them at: http://www.afandpa.org

Global Forest Facts

5.1 billion World population in 1989

6.2 billion Projected world population at the end of 2001 (updated)

240 million United States population in 1989

240 million Increase in world population every three years

Less than 10% Percentage of Planet Earth that remains in a wild state

14.72 billion acres Area of forested land worldwide in 1850

11.84 billion acres Area of forested land worldwide in 2000 (updated)

1 per 10 years Naturally-occurring rate of extinction

1 million Number of plant and animal species that scientists say will become extinct during the next 25 years due to human encroachment and habitat conversion

100. Daily number of extinction's in the next 25 years

26.5 million acres Area of annual global deforestation

50 acres Rate of current worldwide deforestation per minute!

50% Percentage of wood cut worldwide that is made into paper products (source: World Resources Institute)

12% Percentage of trees cut annually that are used for the curing of tobacco (source: World Bank)

10% Percentage of trees replanted globally

22% Percentage of damaged forests due to increased pollutants in the air and loss of nutrients in soil in Western Europe

20% Percentage of greenhouse gas emissions due to annual deforestation

Oregon & Pacific Northwest Forest Facts

62.1 million acres The size of Oregon

40 million acres The area of Ancient Forest that once blanketed the West Coast from Southern Alaska to Northern California

28.3 million acres Area of Oregon uncut forest land at the time of Lewis & Clark (1805)

27.2 million acres Area of current forested lands (mostly plantations) in Oregon

18.9 million acres Area of Oregon Ancient Forest in 1805 (scientists estimate that from 67-90% of original forest was in "old-growth" condition)

2.8 million acres Area of Northwest Ancient Forest scientists say remains

1.1 million acres Area of NW Ancient Forest left in ecologically viable stands (minimum 300 acres)

18 million acres Area of farmland in Oregon

1.3 million acres Area of Oregon forest lands owned by Weyerhaeuser Corp.

200,000 acres Area of Ancient Forest protected in Oregon in Wilderness Areas, National Parks, etc.

3.7 million acres Area of Oregon forest lands "granted" to railroads in 1900

10 million acres Area of Western public lands timber companies illegally gained in NW under the Timber & Stone Act of 1878

100,000 acres Area of second growth forests exported each year from NW

12,000 acres Area of Ancient Forest currently cut in Oregon & Washington each month!

6,400 acres Area of Ancient Forest currently cut in Oregon each month = 78,800 acres per year (87% old-growth)

6,400 acres Ten square miles

2,200+ acres Average area of forest government biologist say is required by a pair of Spotted Owls in Oregon

220 years Age trees are generally considered to be "old-growth" or Ancient Forest

1200 years Age that a Douglas Fir tree can live barring disturbances

400+ years Amount of time a fallen tree can take to decompose

80-120 years Age at which the Forest Service (USFS) plans to cut new plantations

4-6% Return on investment USFS plans to get in 80-120 years

5% of original Ancient Forest left in Oregon in ecologically viable stands

15% of Brazilian rainforest that has been cut down

15% of "old-growth" Timber Industry says remains in Northwest

20% of U.S. softwood sawtimber produced in Oregon

40% of forest lands in Oregon that are privately owned

60% of forest lands in Oregon that are managed by public agencies

1.25 million Total employment in Oregon in 1985

65,000 Employment in "old-growth" sector of timber industry in 1978

39,000 Employment in "old-growth' sector in 1987

62,000 Employment in Outdoor Recreation and Tourism in 1985 (source: State Employment Division, annual reports)

5. Number of workers used to process one million board feet of lumber in 1979

8. Number of workers used to process one million board feet of lumber in 1985

28% increase in cutting on National Forests from 1979-1989

15% decrease in employment in timber industry from 1979-1989

40% of routine over-cutting (cutting more than the forest can grow in replacement) on public lands annually

50% of trees that existed on this planet in 1949 that have since been cut

72% of nation's forestlands in private ownership

99% of private lands that have been cut (at least once)

97% of Spotted Owl nests that are found in cavities in "old-growth" trees

65+% of Americans that don't know that trees are cut by USFS

98% of timber cutting goal the USFS met in 1984

140% of road-building goal the USFS met in 1984

24% of trail-building goal the USFS met in 1984

34% of wildlife habitat improvement goal the USFS met in 1984

28% of soil and water improvement goal the USFS met in 1984

20% of annual rainfall that drops from needles collecting mist

Less than 2% of America's Native forest that remains uncut

160% timber industry's projected increase in demand for wood products in United States by year 2030

One board foot One square foot of wood one inch thick

76,000 board feet Average good Forest Service Timber Sale yield per acre

One billion board feet Equal to 13,000 acres of clear-cut Ancient Forest

9.7 billion board feet Amount sold in Northwest by September 1990 under Hatfield legislation (=126,100 acres of Ancient Forest)

11.3 billion board feet 1990 USFS nationwide Timber Sale program target

2.9 billion board feet Amount of entire cut on National Forest nationwide in 1949

16 billion board feet Amount cut on Public and Private lands in Washington and Oregon in 1988

8.1 billion board feet Amount cut in Oregon in 1987 (source: Dept. of Forestry)

3.7 billion board feet Total amount of unprocessed wood exports from Oregon in 1989

1.3 billion board feet Amount of raw logs exported from OR in 1989

1.47 billion board feet Amount of wood chips exported from OR in 1989

0.93 billion board feet Amount of slabbed logs exported from OR in 1989

1.1 billion board feet Amount of United States exports of wood products to China in 1989 (source: U.S. Commerce Dept.)

1.2 billion board feet Amount annual cut would be lowered in Oregon if Thomas Report Habitat Conservation Areas (HCAs) were implemented (source: OSU School of Forestry)

$1.149 billion USFS 1990 budget

$253.7 million 1990 Timber Sales budget (22% of total budget)

$98.2 million 1990 Reforestation budget (8% of total budget)

$152.7 million 1990 Recreation budget (13% of total budget)

$81.5 million 1990 Fish & Wildlife budget (7% of total budget)

$164.4 million 1990 Road Construction budget (14% of total budget)

$18.6 million 1990 Trail Construction budget (1% of total budget)

$4,700 Cost of chemical insecticide application per square mile

343,000 miles Amount of roads currently maintained by the Forest Service (Equal to eight times the length of the entire Interstate Highway system)

580,000 miles Amount of new roads planned by the USFS

75 billion tons Amount of topsoil washed off of previously forested lands in the U.S.

185 tons Largest amount of biomass per acre measured in tropical rainforests

708 tons Average amount of biomass per acre of Northwest Ancient Forest

644 pounds Per Capita paper consumption annually in the United States

60 million Amount of needles on a single mature Douglas Fir tree

6.54 million Estimated fish run on 30 coastal Oregon rivers in 1890

250,000 Management goal fish run on same 30 rivers in 1990

1500. Number of invertebrate species that can live on a single tree

163. Number of vertebrate species dependent on the Ancient Forest ecosystem

45. Number of vertebrate species that require the cavities of old-growth trees for survival

Source:

Ancient Forest Facts. Researched by Michael Donnelly. Produced by Friends of the Breitenbush Cascades, Friends of the Ancient Forest, Oregon Natural Resources Council, and Oregon Ancient Forest Alliance. July 1990.

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