> Some of the best Sitka spruce is read daily. What a waste!!!

While it is possible, it is not very likely. The largest newsprint mills run a mix of recycled, de inked paper and pulp from trees cut on farms. Newspapers have farmed pulp wood for a century, and have been recycling more paper each year. I think the figures are something like less than one percent of newsprint is from some source other than tree farms or recycling. Good Sitka spruce is too darn expensive to use for paper pulp. On another front, the hardwood industry likes to point out that there are more trees now than there were 30 years ago, and the number of trees is growing. My son counters that the average age of the forests is still small as older trees are felled and replaced by (more) young ones. My riposte is that even if you do not cut the older trees, if you plant two new ones for every old one the average age of the forest will also fall. It becomes a political game with mathematical pieces, where the various sides manipulate the data to serve their ends.

Personally, I like the economic-based viewpoint. It states that scarcer wood, and that includes a lot of old growth timber, will cost more. A corollary to that is that if you buy cheap wood your conscience and wallet are both saved.

Farmed young trees are obviously not going to yield clear, wide and long planks. Chipping mills make good use of fast growing varieties by converting them into OSB (oriented strand board) or particle board products, which are inexpensive products that are taking a share in the plywood market.

> And for that matter the forest management capabilities of certain
> Northern American countries is matched only by their ability to manage
> their fish resources.

Anyone checked the price of lake perch or Atlantic cod recently? As these fish get scarcer the price for them rises. On the other hand, there is a salmon glut in the market.

> So! Feel guilty about slash burning, paper, and framing timber.

There are plenty of environmental issues, and many points of view surrounding each. Pick your battles and stock up on your (verbal) ammunition.

> Not wooden boats & fine furniture.

Umm. Actually I'm not sure I'd want to defend strip built boats in a debate. You waste 30 percent of the wood, turning it to sawdust as you cut the strips. The best planks to use are quartersawn, and cutting a tree that way does not give the greatest yield. You want clear wood, and that means older trees. After you assemble the strips you saturate them with epoxy and coat them with glass, creating a composite that is not recyclable, and would take a heck of a long time to bio-degrade. Don't forget the annual expense for that varnish, too. In a few years you could go through more petroleum than if you had bought a plastic 'yak made from recycled milk bottles.

The good thing is that they use very little wood.

Sorry to be such a downer. :(

Paul Jacobson