Starbucks has been running a commercial to encourage people to bring reusable travel mugs instead of asking for a paper cup. The commercial shows people putting Starbucks paper coffee cups on the pavement, eventually creating a picture of a tree. One of the slogans is "One person can save trees, together we can save forests." Ironically, they are not saving coffee beans. As each person places a cup on the pavement, it is quite obvious that it still contains coffee! That was lots of coffee to use for a single ad. I will admit that the cups had to be weighted in case of a breeze.
Minnesota Public Radio has a campaign to get people to become sustaining members. On the air they are saying "Save a tree" because it will reduce their mailings because sustaining members will be automatically charged each month. Additionally, for each new sustaining member they will have a tree planted in the member's name.
I don't like to see waste and I like to conserve resources by recycling, but I think these "Save a tree" campaigns are somewhat misguided.
First, the much of the wood pulp for paper comes from private lands. When held by a forest products company, they are managed for sustainability. When a tree is taken from such land, it is replaced by planting or by natural regrowth.
Second, the primary source of wood pulp is aspen and balsam fir, both which regrow naturally. In fact, I call them both weeds. Aspen regrows quickly from root suckers. Balsam fir grows from seed cones without much effort. In fact, both kinds of trees continually spring up in any area of our Brimson property that we don't keep clear.
I am very allergic to balsam fir, getting a severe skin reaction any time I have to trim a balsam or cut one down. I've talked to a logger friend about removing many of them, but he says there is no market for balsam. I may have to hire him to remove some near the cabin; they are too close, especially with drought conditions.
"No market for balsam" may be an indication that many recycling efforts are "paying off". Consider also that many paper companies have been downsizing. One could change the slogan to "Save a tree; fire a logger."
Worse yet, the value of private forest lands is increasing so much that forest product companies are selling their land to real estate companies. These companies are selling them off in smaller parcels to individuals. When this happens the individuals take out trees for driveways and buildings. See "Breaking Up the Forests".
The breakup of the forests could have consequences for wildlife. One could change the slogan to "Save a tree; starve a moose." Somebody long ago told me that if I wanted moose, clear cut. When we bought our property, there was a recently cut area of aspen (aka poplar or popple). The stand was about eight-foot high and we occasionally saw moose tracks. Now the stand is twenty to thirty-feet high and we haven't seen a moose track for years. Moose aren't completely gone from our area. One of our Brimson neighbors found two dead bull moose with locked horns: "Shed Hunter Finds Two Minnesota Record-Book Moose Locked After Battle to the Death".
Moose aren't the only tree predators. One could change the slogan to "Save a tree; shoot a deer." We have made many efforts to plant trees. Our most successful was white spruce. We had some success with sugar maple with probably half the seedlings turning into twelve to fourteen foot trees. We tried red oak and they are all gone. We had hoped to plant hundreds and hundred of white pines, but deer took a big toll on them. We initially stapled paper to the tips in the fall (the recommended practice), but the deer would bite the top off below the paper. We tried putting circles of fencing around individual trees, but the deer would reach in with their tongues and pull the tips out. We put screen around the fencing and that seemed to work. Unfortunately, for all this protection, we couldn't protect against drought. Several of the trees that survived the deer turned brown and died. I think of the 200 or more pines that we planted over a two-to-three year period, only about forty have survived and only about twenty are taller than me.
We have been harvesting aspen for firewood, both for our cabin and for our Duluth house. I think we used about eleven trees last year, almost all aspen. We are starting to use some birch; it is finally getting to fireplace size after a big die-off several years ago. But our job may have become easier. One could change the slogan to "Save a tree; stop the wind." Except for some trees that were in the way of other trees, we have been harvesting broken tops. The best yet are the four-inch diameter trees that were snapped off in a big wind storm or two. The woods looked like it was full of a jumble of toothpicks. When we can get to those without bark, all we have to do is cut them into fireplace lengths, no splitting. These are just great for having a fast, very hot fire to warm the cabin quickly.
Ah yes, fire. One could change the slogan to "Save a tree; start a forest fire." A mature forest is much more likely to burn and over a wider area. If we reduce our harvest of trees too much, we will have more forest fires. It is nature's way of providing for large-scale renewal.
I think where we really have to be concerned about trees is in urban areas. I regret that we no longer have any of the back yard trees we once had. A silver maple and a birch became too old. An ash provided easy access to our attic for squirrels, and three smaller birch just got in the way of the power and telephone lines. Other than our arbor vitae, trees in the front yard are out of the question because of sewer lines. Boulevard trees are impossible because the boulevard is only two feet wide.
Overall it is going to be more difficult to have neighborhood trees. Wider streets leave less room for trees. The ongoing sewer work in Duluth is going to lead to more front-yard trees being taken down or fatally stressed. Disease and age are going to do in many mature trees.
About the only places left for lots of trees are parks. Do we want to spend the tax money to keep our parks green? It's either spend the money on a healthier environment or spend the money on health care.
Be careful what you wish for, you may get the opposite.
