Hardwood Floors August/September 2017

Unfortunately, bumper sticker messaging around saving trees by not using wood is the narrative that has prevailed among many, and it is a myth we continue to debunk on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch. But our recent win feels like progress and a major victory for our sustainability message. Both Republicans and Democrats supported the language, many of whommembers of the NWFA visited during the Hardwood Federation Fly-In to Washington, D.C. We are hopeful we can continue this progress with additional policy victories in 2017 on

However, over the past year or so, many opponents to timber harvesting began making claims that forest-based biomass is a nonrenewable resource. Many outside the wood products industry are unaware of – or refuse to acknowledge – the fact that robust markets for forest products actually promote the health of the nation’s forest resources. The beautiful and long-lived wood products, including flooring produced by the industry, provide critical demand for working forests so that landowners managing those forests can continue to keep those lands as forest lands.

Sustainable Reason to Be Pro Forest Products What separates wood products’ processes from industries that rely on fossil-derived materials like oil, gas, or coal is that the thriving, sustainable forests from which raw materials are sourced continue the carbon uptake cycle in a virtual loop.

some of our other, critical policy priorities like federal forest management reform and legislation to promote more wood use in tall buildings. As always, we will look again to engage all of you in those efforts and help us spread the word about the economic and environmental benefits the wood products industry brings to local communities and the nation. Dana Cole is Executive Director at the Hardwood Federation, a Washington D.C.–based hardwood industry trade association that represents thousands of hardwood businesses in every state in the U.S. and acts as the industry’s advocacy voice on Capitol Hill. She can be reached at dana.cole@hardwoodfederation.com.

A little-known fact is that most of the forest land in this country is privately owned in parcels that average well under 500 acres. These small, private landowner suppliers depend on a return on investment to keep their holdings forested and not convert them to other uses like row crop agriculture or development. Thriving markets for forest products are the primary reason there are more forested acres in this country today than in the 1950s – a time period during which the country experienced an unprecedented postwar home building spree.

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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