Will we run out of trees if we continue to cut them down for paper?

No. More trees are planted every year than are cut down. This is due in most part to the success of managed timberlands. Whenever trees are harvested, more trees are planted to take their place. Timberlands can be managed to produce trees and forest products forever.

Trees are a renewable resource. As long as we manage timberland and plant trees to replace the ones cut down, trees will continue to grow and grow and grow.

In some ways, this process is similar to growing vegetables in a garden. We plant the vegetables and let them grow until they are mature enough to harvest. When harvest time comes, we collect the vegetables and eat them. Next spring, the process begins again when we plant a new crop. As long as we continue to plant and harvest, the process goes on and on.

More trees are destroyed by fire and insects than are cut down to make paper. And, on an average, when a tree is harvested for making paper, five more are planted in its place.