Forest Products

This slide show can be used as a stand alone resource or to support the activity “We All Need Trees” in the Project Learning Tree PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide. If you received a Virginia Grown bag at the VAST Conference, there is a printed copy of the activity in the bag.

Part One:

Where do trees grow? How many different products come from trees?

Trees can’t grow everywhere. 31% of the land on earth is forested.

Forests cover 33% of the land area of the United States.

Virginia has abundant, diverse forests.

Upland Hardwoods

61%

Birch-Beech-Maple

2%

Lowland Hardwood

5%

Oak-Pine11%

Natural Pine7%

Pine Plantation13% Non-Stocked

1%

Forest Type Groups, Virginia 2012

Source: USFS-FIA

Forests are a renewable resource. Virginia’s forests provide:

• Clean air and water• Scenic beauty• Fish and wildlife habitat• Recreational opportunities• Carbon sequestration• Mitigation of global climate change• $17 billion in forest products annually• 104,000 jobs

Forest products are an important part of Virginia’s economy.

What do we make out of trees in Virginia?27% of industrial facilities in Virginia manufacture forest

products. We have approximately:

129 sawmills 170 furniture plants 55 millwork plants 8 plywood, particleboard, OSB and other panel mills 55 pallet plants 27 treating plants 8 pulp and paper mills 100 paper products plants 8 pellet plants

Logs and Lumber

Paper Products

Containers

Structural Wood Panels

Pallets

Posts and Poles

• Animal bedding and litter products

• Soil conditioners, amendments, mulches

• Landscape decorative products

• Packing material

Chips, Shavings & Excelsior, Sawdust, Bark, and Pine

Straw

Animal Bedding

• Kudzu• Honeysuckle• Tree of Heaven• Paulownia• Bamboo• Red Cedar• Oriental Bittersweet

Invasive/Specialty Products

• Burls• Walking canes• Turning wood• Wood carving• Taxidermy

mounts• Art projects• Custom Furniture

Decorative Wood

• Hemlock• Lichens• Oak wood and bark• Willow• Pine needles• Leaves of cattails, rushes,

sedges• Vines of honeysuckle and

Virginia creeper• Kudzu

Weaving and Dyeing Materials

• Decorative cones for floral, wreath and potpourri products

• Seed cones for tree nurseries

• Price per pound varies from $0.15- $0.75/pound

Cones and Seeds

• Christmas trees, tips, greenery, boughs, holly, mistletoe,

• Native tree transplants (balled & burlapped)-rhododendron, dogwood, magnolia

• Bark moss, Galax, grapevines, Spanish moss

Greenery, Transplants, Floral Products

• Balsam fir• Birch • Cedar leaf • Hemlock• Sassafras • Spruce• Cedar wood• Wintergreen

Aromatic Oils

• Culinary uses– Herbs and spices - St. John’s wort– Edible greens, roots, or tubers-

wild garlic, sassafras• Medicinal and Pharmaceutical

– Roots – Mayapple - pain killer– Herbs - chickweed - iron– Leaves – wintergreen - flavoring– Buds – rosehips - Vitamin C

Medicinals and Pharmaceuticals

• Maple syrup• Maple sugar• Birch beer• Sarsaparilla• Sassafras tea• Black Cherry

Syrup, Flavorings, etc.

• Apples• Autumn Olive• Black cherry• Blackberry• Blueberry• Chokeberry• Crabapple• Elderberry• Gooseberry• Huckleberry• Mayhaw• Mulberry• Pawpaw

• Persimmon• Plum• Prickly Pear Cactus• Staghorn sumac

Fruit for humans and wildlife

• Varieties – sourwood, tupelo, yellow poplar

• Candles & Crafts• Food • Medicines

Honey, beeswax, bee pollen

• Cultivated– Shiitake– Matsutake– Chanterelle– Oyster

• Wild harvested– Chanterelle– Morels– Matsutake– Oyster

                        

Mushrooms for food source

• Beechnut• Butternut• Chestnut• Golden chinquapin• Hazelnut• Hickory• Pecan• Persimmon• Walnut• Pine nuts• Acorns

Nuts for food source

• Apple• Bigleaf maple• Cherry• Hickory• Mesquite• Oak• Sugar maple

Cooking wood, smoke wood, charcoal, flavor

wood

Biomass Energy

Longwood University’s biomass heating plant

Dominion’s Pittsylvaniapower station

Wood Pellets

Natural Hardwood Charcoal

Sawdust

ChemicalAdditives

GranularPowder

ExtrudedPellets

StructuredHoneycomb

Activated Carbon

In Covington, MWV converts sawdust into the activated carbon which is found in the carbon canisters of 100% of American vehicles and 90% of European vehicles.

Energy+

Chemicals and Nano-Fibers

What are nano-fibers?Videos on noncellulose are here:http://www.tappi.org/Groups/Divisions/Nanotechnology/nanovideo.aspx and a slide show here: http://www.tappi.org/content/events/08nano/papers/08nan59.pdf

What types of chemicals come from trees?Browse through the Specialty Chemicals section of this website, http://www.mwv.com/en-us/about/packaging-matters to see an amazing array of chemical products manufactured from trees.

http://www.gp.com/Products/Products-Overview provides an overview of a wide variety of product categories, including chemicals.

Part Two:

How much wood do we have in Virginia?

Forest Inventory & Analysis Program•The US Forest Service and the Virginia Department of Forestry work together to assess and monitor the condition of the forests in our state. •There are 4600 permanent research plots that have been sampled 9 times since 1940. •Survey results can be found here: http://srsfia2.fs.fed.us/states/virginia.shtml

Forest Growth(Volume of All Live Trees on Timberland)

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

1940 1957 1966 1977 1986 1992 2001 2010

Hardwoods

Softwoods

Vo

lum

e (

Bi ll

ion

cu

. ft.

)

Since 1940, total live tree volume has more than doubled.

Tree growth exceeds harvest in Virginia.

2001 2007 2011 20120.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

Statewide Annual Net Growth & Removals for Softwood & Hard-

wood (MM Tons)

Softwood GrowthSoftwood RemovalsHardwood GrowthHardwood Removals

Source: USFS-FIA

1907 1940 1957 1966 1977 1986 1992 2001 2007 20100

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Year

Mil

lio

n a

cre

s

Virginia Forestland Acres

So what can we do?• Learn everything we can about the natural world and the resources we use.• Learn how to conserve our use of natural resources with our everyday choices.• and…

Plant more trees!

More information on forest products at: National PLT WebsiteVirginia PLT Website

Questions? Contact Lisa Deatonlisa.deaton@dof.virginia.gov

804-966-2201www.dof.virginia.gov