Essay by Lissa James
Silviculture – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
My family owns a timber company in Washington state, and for us, money grows on trees.
Every time we buy something, we see the physical signs of our consumption in our backyard. Paying for my recent college education, for example, took about 300 log truckloads of second-growth Douglas fir, cedar and hemlock trees. A $60 pair of jeans equals a log of doug fir that’s eight inches at the top and 36 feet long. When we pay medical bills or leave our town of 200 to go on vacation, we cut more trees.