Home > Forest Facts

• The forests of tomorrow are growing today
• Trees produce clean oxygen
• The way we manage our forests
• Most trees don’t grow in the shady forest
• Our forests maintain biodiversity
• Fast growing, healthy trees store more carbon
• Our job is to maintain sustainable forests

The forests of tomorrow are growing today: Many people do not realize that companies such as Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) are growing more trees than they are harvesting. Today, the average size tree at harvest on Sierra Pacific lands is approximately 18 inches in diameter. In one hundred years we will nearly triple our current forest volume and the average size tree at harvest will be in excess of 30 inches in diameter. Put succinctly, we will have more large trees on our timberlands 100 years from now than we do today and almost three times the wood volume. That’s progress.
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Trees produce clean oxygen: Carbon dioxide, produced by burning fossil fuels like gasoline, contributes to an atmospheric warming phenomenon that scientists call the greenhouse effect. Fossil fuels also produce sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide that produce acid rain. Growing trees convert CO² into oxygen which we breathe. The trees store the carbon in limbs, trunks, and roots. In fact, there's no better natural CO² filter known to humankind than growing trees. In addition, fuels made from wood do not generate near the quantity of harmful emissions as fossil fuels do. Growing trees clean the air. Wood-based fuels, such as ethanol, will keep it clean. People who like to breathe want growing trees.
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The way we manage our forests: When trees mature we harvest them to make wood products for consumers. In their place Sierra Pacific plants new trees in naturally fertilized soil, creating the next generation of forests. For some reason, when we talk about growing trees, people immediately think that we have forestlands full of small trees that look something like Christmas tree farms. This is not the case. At any given time, sapling size trees populate only a small percentage of our forested lands. Harvest cycles are separated by long periods of time and involve cutting only a tiny percentage of the existing trees on Sierra Pacific lands. In fact, at any given time, only four to five percent of our land grows saplings under 20 feet tall. The rest of the acreage contains larger and more mature trees. Trees grow faster than you might think under the proper conditions. On our lands it takes only five years for the average conifer to grow to 10-15 feet tall.
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Most trees don’t grow in the shady forest: Many people become concerned when they see openings in the forest. However, appearances can be deceiving. By opening up the forest and allowing the sun to hit the ground, we allow for the growth of young trees that have been replanted. Many species of conifers require direct sunlight to thrive. If left in the shade of a larger tree, most conifer species either die or become stunted, never growing to their potential. In order to create a vigorous growing new forest, we need to open up existing forests and allow sunlight to reach the forest floor. To do this we use "even-age" management. This is carried out under very strict rules that guarantee reforestation. If we take only a few trees, leaving too many shadows, we prevent the growth of the future forests. Mother Nature accomplishes the same result by forest fires.
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Our forests maintain biodiversity: Maintaining biodiversity is one of the goals of Sierra Pacific’s land management. Promoting a natural mix of flora and fauna is important to our timberland managers. That’s why Sierra Pacific grows a vast array of tree and shrub types vital to the survival of the many wildlife species that inhabit our forestlands. Sierra Pacific has special landscape plans designed to ensure the survival of sensitive species, such as the Northern Spotted Owl. Many areas are deliberately harvested sparsely to benefit native fish and wildlife. Before Europeans arrived, the inland forests of California were 80% pine. Today, we actually have more species diversity than back in the 1850's when eastern settlers arrived.
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Fast growing, healthy trees store more carbon: A forest full of healthy growing trees consumes substantially more carbon dioxide than an over-mature forest. As a tree grows, it stores carbon in its trunk, branches and roots and produces the oxygen that we need. This Carbon Cycle is important to the environment. As a result of investments made today, Sierra Pacific will be producing wood products that will store carbon for centuries.
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Our job is to maintain sustainable forests: On Sierra Pacific lands for the next 100 years the wood volume and tree size will continue to increase. Total growth will continue to increase. At this time, Sierra Pacific will have reached the maximum sustainable level of productivity and will be able to harvest in perpetuity, at a steady, non-declining volume. This means that we will be able to harvest the same amount of timber forever, maintaining nearly three times the timber volume that is on Sierra Pacific lands today. All of this is made possible by "even-age" harvesting and other forest management techniques, which allow our forests to grow to their greatest potential.
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