Really, I believe that intelligent, well planned-out forestry is the answer to a lot of our problems. It provides us with tried and true building materials as well as materials for making fine furniture (as well as the cheaper varieties).
And this is to say nothing of the jobs it generates - many of which do not require any more education than a High School Diploma provides. (Forestry is, indeed, one of those fields where people start out as ground-level laborers and, through off- and on-the-job training, pretty much level up to become equipment operators, foremen, and site managers.)
When I was young, Weyerhaeuser pretty much had the market cornered in Washington State. As early as the early 90's, they'd switched from just clearcutting to actually farming entire swaths of the forests surrounding the Cascade and Olympic mountains, and they've profited greatly from the practice.
Old growth forests do need to be protected, for for no other reason that it provides homes for niche wildlife. But the practice of farming lumber has far more benefits.
And this is to say nothing of the jobs it generates - many of which do not require any more education than a High School Diploma provides. (Forestry is, indeed, one of those fields where people start out as ground-level laborers and, through off- and on-the-job training, pretty much level up to become equipment operators, foremen, and site managers.)
When I was young, Weyerhaeuser pretty much had the market cornered in Washington State. As early as the early 90's, they'd switched from just clearcutting to actually farming entire swaths of the forests surrounding the Cascade and Olympic mountains, and they've profited greatly from the practice.
Old growth forests do need to be protected, for for no other reason that it provides homes for niche wildlife. But the practice of farming lumber has far more benefits.