What is a Forest

Website by Cloudburst Designs.

Demonstration Forest

In the simplest definition, a forest is any ecosystem that contains a living community of trees. But a forest is much more than trees, it is the community of wildlife, soil, water, and people that live or work in the forests day to day.

Recreation - A healthy forest is a great place to play, relax and return to nature.

Insects are an important part of the forest ecosystem. Some insects, like these red-headed sawfly larvae, can be detrimental to poorly managed, unhealthy forest ecosystems.

Aesthetics - There are many beautiful forest scenes that were created at Eastman through forest management.

Water - A healthy forest is essential for clean, quality water. Forest protect the soil from erosion that might end-up in our drinking water.

Wildlife - White-tailed deer thrive at the Eastman property.

What is Forestry or Forest Management?

Forestry is the art and science of tending forested ecosystems to produce the maximum quantity and quality of forest products on a sustainable basis while at the same time maximizing forest health. Those people that manage forests with sound scientifically developed guidelines are called Foresters. You think that rocket science is hard? Try managing living, changing ecosystems! Forestry is complex, and Foresters must earn college degrees and years of experience before they can become certified.

What does sustainable mean?

Foresters are very knowledgeable about how things work in a forest. Foresters use this knowledge to maintain a healthy productive forest ecosystem so that you (society) may harvest wood fiber, clean water, etc for generations in the future. It would be very difficult or impossible for our country to maintain the standard of living without the products and services that forests provide. As the population of the world increases, the need to harvest more forest products increases and the need for good, knowledgeable foresters increases.

What are Forest Products?

All those things that we use on a daily basis. We produce more than five thousand products from wood grown in forests. We also harvest fruit, nuts, and seeds gathered from forests. Many chemicals are collected from trees, we enjoy its beauty, and we harvest wildlife for food and furs, and rely on forests to provide clean water to drink and oxygen to breathe.

Each person uses the amount of wood products each year that is equal to a tree 100 feet tall, and just one acre of trees provide enough oxygen for 17 people. Lumber is probably the most recognizable product that comes from our forests. Lumber is the 2x4's and such that we use to build our houses and furniture. That is just part of the story.

We use all parts of the tree: cellulose, bark, sugars, leaves & needles, and chemicals. So many things that we use each day come from forests that it is hard to find something that doesn't. Here are some examples:

• Many drinks (e.g. sport drinks) have flavorings that come from forest products.
• Some ice creams contain cellulose, derived from trees. It gives ice cream a
creamy texture.
• Aspirin and some other medicines come from trees. Aspirin is made from the
bark of willow trees.
• Toothpaste has cellulose in it.

And there are many more examples of forest products!