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Americans
use more wood - some 5,000 to 10,000 products - than all other industrial
materials combined. The average American uses 200 board feet of lumber,
160 square feet of wood panels and 650 pounds of paper each year -
the equivalent of a 100-foot-tall tree.
About 75% of
the wood used is softwood (such as pine), which is used for home
construction, furniture and other products. Pennsylvania forests
are mostly hardwoods, which are used to produce higher quality products,
such as fine furniture, cabinets, flooring and crafts.
Sawlogs:
95% of the timber harvested in Pennsylvania is for sawlogs, or whole
logs, which yield the highest value and usually are derived from
trees at least 12 inch dbh (diameter at breast height). Sawlogs
are used to make solid wood products such as:
- boards
- decking
- fence
posts
- timbers,
including mine timbers
- cabin
logs
- utility
poles
- railroad
cross ties
- veneer
(¼ inch or less thin sheets of wood
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- pallets
(lumber and plywood shipping containers)
- piling,
which is treated with creosote and used in bridge, docks,
wharves, foundations and other general construction
- plywood
(combined sheets of veneer)
- cooperage
(material used for barrels, baskets and boxes)
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Pulpwood:
Pulpwood, usually derived from smaller or lesser value trees, is
chipped to make pulp for papermaking. Wood chips and sawdust also
are used to make pulp.
To obtain the
maximum value from each tree, today's industry is almost "wasteless."
Virtually every part of the tree has some economic value.
Many of today's
wood products, such as particleboard, are "engineered"
from what was once considered waste. Bark and sawdust are recycled
and used as landscaping mulch and animal bedding, respectively.
Other common
wood products are:
- cardboard
boxes
- firewood
- toothpicks
- clothespins
- flooring
- siding
- ceiling
tile
- musical
instruments
- baseball
bat
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- moldings
- shingles
- books
- magazines
- newspapers
- furniture
- particle
board (from shavings and sawdust)
- foods,
such as nuts and syrup
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Less obvious
products, many of which rely on the cellulose in the wood as a thickener,
are:
- diapers
- rayon
cloth
- paint
thinner
- photographic
film
- shampoo
- soaps
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- chewing
gum
- cosmetics
- cellophane
- imitation
leather
- medicines
- adhesives
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- goggles
- football
helmets
- inks
- toothpaste
- cellulose
acetate
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The
information on this page is taken directly from the "Sustaining
Penn’s Woods" curriculum. This fact sheet has been reviewed
and approved by the PA Department of Education.
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order to view and print PDF (Portable Document Format) documents,
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