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Did You Know?

Here are some interesting facts about trees, forests and the Western U.S.
Browse below and see how many you know.

  1. The West has a little more than 58 million people, living primarily in a few concentrated areas-56 percent in California alone.
  2. Most of the 363 million acres of western forests are held in large blocks of federal ownerships.
  3. 75% of our national forest system is intentionally set aside for non-commercial use.
  4. Although the West contains half of the Nation's total forests, it has only 27 percent (129 million acres) of the available timberland. Two-thirds of those timberlands (80 million acres) are on public lands, making public land policy a major economic issue with western communities, and important in terms of the national timber economy, as well.
  5. Water originating in our national forests provides drinking water for over 3400 communities, and approximately 60 million individuals.
  6. It is estimated that U.S. forests sequester approximately 10 percent of the nation’s industrial emissions of greenhouse gases which amounts to over 200 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents per year.
  7. Smokey Bear was the first individual animal to ever be honored on a postage stamp? This stamp commemorated Smokey’s 40th birthday in 1984.
  8. One tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces while driving 26,000 miles.
  9. The oldest individual tree is found in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in CA. The redwood is believed to be 12,000 years old, although it is argued as being only 7,000 years old, which still makes it the oldest tree.
  10. The average tree in an urban/city area has a life expectancy of only 8 years.