New York Forests

Forest Forecast:

"In 16 years, all of the hardwood lumber in the United States will

be gone."

- Utica, N.Y., newspaper, 1908

"Today in N.Y., there are more acres in forest than at any time

in the century"

- USDA Forest Service, 1993

Forests covered just 25 percent of N.Y. in 1880. Today, they account

for 62 percent of state lands. This is because of the National

Sustainable Forestry Initative developed by the American Forest &

Paper Association. The initative calls upon forest product companies

to manage forests to meet the needs of people today and in the future.

At the same time companies work to conserve soil, air and water

quality and they need to preserve wildlife and fish habitats and

woodland asethics. The program is totally self imposed , and the

AF&PA member company is responsible to implement programs to

educate and train other landowners and harvesters to follow its lead.

"The forest products companies of New York State have proven

themselves time and time again to be good neighbors to the many

animals that make their homes in New York's forests."

Richard Sage,

Associate Director,

Adirondack Ecological Center