What is the environmental impact of producing wood made from pine trees?

Answer 1

It means the end of old growth timber.

Fast growing trees, like the Loblolly pine in the south are harvested relatively young for pulp. If you want fine lumber, you need slower growing larger trees, like the Douglas Fir in the Northwest.

The trend seems to be toward fabrication with pulp these days. These trees are farmed rather than letting a forest grow.

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Answer 2

In most cases the impact from the trees themselves is minimal. Most of the trees used is grown on farms. The real problem comes from processing the wood. Paper is a very nasty process producing turpentine, tall oil, and other products. These products are environmentally damaging though the paper companies try not to let them leak, though that is mostly due to a loss in profits since they have a big business using these products (gum, glues, etc).

Overall it really depends on what you are doing with the trees. If you are simply making wood, you mostly have to deal with the water from the process of creating wood products, which is rather easily dealt with.

Answer 3

One of the major impacts of any lumber production is the removal of carbon from the cycle. This means room for more trees which can absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere, reducing the threat of global warming. Of course if this wood eventually rots or is burned, the CO2 returns. And the full environmental cost & benefit must include the use to which the lumber is put. If it means new housing requiring extensive land clearance (e.g., a Mcmansion), the net result could be less removal of atmospheric CO2.

Answer 4

In the United States, the majority of pine timberland that is harvested for lumber is replanted. And it is not like we are cutting faster than the trees will regrow. There is a cycle set up, so that we are maintaining a constant forest size as far as pine plantations are concerned. And plantations are forests because they are homes for a variety of wildlife and birds just as much as other forests are. The biggest loss of forest is due to new houses and stores bulldozing forests down.