by Art Jones
Those are the first four lines of the poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer, 1886-1918. It is among the most loved and most recognized poems in North America.
It was also a tribute to the beauty and strength of trees.
Trees are something most people take for granted. They're just there, in the yard, along the streets, in clumps on the plains and in the forests in the north.
But have you ever wondered what a tree really does?
Urban trees provide shade and shelter and act as windbreaks. The water evaporating from their leaves helps to reduce the temperature near the tree reducing the need for air conditioning in nearby homes. A tree acts like a huge pump that cycles water up from the soil and into the air. In a single growing season a healthy 33-metre tree with 200,000 leaves can take approximately 40,000 litres of water from the soil and breathe it back into
the air.
A windbreak of trees can help maintain moisture levels during the summer and during the winter a windbreak can lower heating costs by nearly a third. Trees help stabilize the soil and reduce erosion and conserve water by slowing runoff after storms. Urban trees muffle noise almost as effectively as stonewalls and one study says trees around your home can increase
property values.
Trees provide homes, shelter and food for countless birds, animals and insects and have a direct impact on the health of aquatic ecosystems.
Trees play a role in more than 5,000 products, including nuts, fruit, berries, syrup, baseball bats, paper, wood, shoe polish and even toothpaste.
"I am constantly amazed by the number of things we use that come from trees," says Al Willcocks of Saskatchewan Environment. "In Saskatchewan the most economically important activities include logging and manufacturing forest products such as pulp and paper, lumber, oriented strand board, plywood and fence posts. The forest industry has an enormous economic benefit in Saskatchewan, employing nearly 8,000 people and pumping more than $884-million into the economy."
Trees also help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere. A young, rapidly growing forest takes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, stores the carbon as biomass and releases oxygen. In an old forest the trees aren't growing any more. As the mature trees die and rot and are eaten by insects, the net effect is to release the stored carbon into the atmosphere. When there is a fire the carbon stored in the old trees is also released into the atmosphere. If some of these trees are harvested before that happens and made into something durable such as building materials or furniture, the carbon stays in the wood and out of the atmosphere.
"Because forests take carbon dioxide out of the air they are, in a sense, our breathing partners," says Environment's Willcocks. "People and animals depend on trees and plants for oxygen. As you breathe in, your body uses oxygen. As you breathe out, it gives off carbon dioxide. Trees and other plants do the opposite. They take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere. It's estimated that Saskatchewan's forests produce enough oxygen for 241 million people for a year."
Environment's Willcocks says that while most people readily see the value in mature forests for forest products and recreation, it's also important to understand the critical function of young forests. All parts of the forest- like each line in a poem - must work together and balance is the key.
For more information contact:
Al Willcocks
Executive Director, Forest Services
Saskatchewan Environment
(306) 953-2468
awillcocks@serm.gov.sk..ca
Or
Art Jones
Communications Consultant
Saskatchewan Environment
(306) 787-5796
(306) 536-8452 (cell)
ajones@serm.gov.sk.ca
Those are the first four lines of the poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer, 1886-1918. It is among the most loved and most recognized poems in North America.
It was also a tribute to the beauty and strength of trees.
Trees are something most people take for granted. They're just there, in the yard, along the streets, in clumps on the plains and in the forests in the north.
But have you ever wondered what a tree really does?
Urban trees provide shade and shelter and act as windbreaks. The water evaporating from their leaves helps to reduce the temperature near the tree reducing the need for air conditioning in nearby homes. A tree acts like a huge pump that cycles water up from the soil and into the air. In a single growing season a healthy 33-metre tree with 200,000 leaves can take approximately 40,000 litres of water from the soil and breathe it back into
the air.
A windbreak of trees can help maintain moisture levels during the summer and during the winter a windbreak can lower heating costs by nearly a third. Trees help stabilize the soil and reduce erosion and conserve water by slowing runoff after storms. Urban trees muffle noise almost as effectively as stonewalls and one study says trees around your home can increase
property values.
Trees provide homes, shelter and food for countless birds, animals and insects and have a direct impact on the health of aquatic ecosystems.
Trees play a role in more than 5,000 products, including nuts, fruit, berries, syrup, baseball bats, paper, wood, shoe polish and even toothpaste.
"I am constantly amazed by the number of things we use that come from trees," says Al Willcocks of Saskatchewan Environment. "In Saskatchewan the most economically important activities include logging and manufacturing forest products such as pulp and paper, lumber, oriented strand board, plywood and fence posts. The forest industry has an enormous economic benefit in Saskatchewan, employing nearly 8,000 people and pumping more than $884-million into the economy."
Trees also help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere. A young, rapidly growing forest takes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, stores the carbon as biomass and releases oxygen. In an old forest the trees aren't growing any more. As the mature trees die and rot and are eaten by insects, the net effect is to release the stored carbon into the atmosphere. When there is a fire the carbon stored in the old trees is also released into the atmosphere. If some of these trees are harvested before that happens and made into something durable such as building materials or furniture, the carbon stays in the wood and out of the atmosphere.
"Because forests take carbon dioxide out of the air they are, in a sense, our breathing partners," says Environment's Willcocks. "People and animals depend on trees and plants for oxygen. As you breathe in, your body uses oxygen. As you breathe out, it gives off carbon dioxide. Trees and other plants do the opposite. They take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere. It's estimated that Saskatchewan's forests produce enough oxygen for 241 million people for a year."
Environment's Willcocks says that while most people readily see the value in mature forests for forest products and recreation, it's also important to understand the critical function of young forests. All parts of the forest- like each line in a poem - must work together and balance is the key.
For more information contact:
Al Willcocks
Executive Director, Forest Services
Saskatchewan Environment
(306) 953-2468
awillcocks@serm.gov.sk..ca
Or
Art Jones
Communications Consultant
Saskatchewan Environment
(306) 787-5796
(306) 536-8452 (cell)
ajones@serm.gov.sk.ca
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