Not seeing the wood for the trees

[Laila]

Has anyone been reading about the government's plans to "exploit" our beautiful Scots pine forests? Apparently they're going to use the timber for children's playground equipment...

I understand our economy needs a boost, but surely the kids would rather choose to inherit a beautiful tree than play on a wooden slide for a few hours?

[ScotSites]

It doesn't look like "exploitation" to me; instead it looks like a good idea! Why not use more home-grown timber instead of importing it from somewhere? And if it is going to be sustained then the kids will have the best of both worlds: an enviromentally friendly play park and... actually I'm not so sure many of them would really want to "inherit" a tree!

[tig]

these pine "forests" are man made and have very little wild life in them what so ever....millions of trees planted in rows 2 meters apart and all the same size.
theyve been planted for the sole purpose of felling, so why not use them for the kids?


might look good from a distance but theres nothing natural about them.

[Polwarth]

I've got to agree, the 'regimentation' of those huge Forestry Commission (and other landowners) 'forests' are not a natural part of the Scottish countryside.

Those plantations were made for the total exploitation of the wood - they are fast-growing trees grown for the timber trade. I see no problem with continuing that business. After all, they replant as many as they chop down.

[ANDY-J3]

The trees were planted by the forestry commission not for aesthetic purposes but purely for economic uses. In the past timber was more widely used than it is at present so vast areas were planted with trees in anticipation of future needs - if they're cut down the plantations will quickly return to their natural state and native species of plants will soon become established again so it won't be any great loss.

[kathyv]

Trees grow back, that's what they are designed to do! Use them or lose them as we have learned in Oregon. The tree huggers have gotten rid of most logging, therefore bugs and disease have taken over, killing the healthy trees and setting up perfect conditions for combustion. Guess what happens when lightening hits the dead and dying bug killed trees which are dry and crumbling with disease?

[Mellijelli]

I think its ok to use these trees for whatever purpose they choose if they have specially been cultivated for the pine. We have pine forests here in SA in the Northern Transvaal which are also used for the sole purpose of making paper for a company called Sappi, and they cover vast areas of valleys and mountains for a number kilometers, I must admit it does look very beautiful but in the end they all get cut down anyway, its true they plant them as fast as they use them, but how long does it take for these trees to grow back to a size where they can actually cut them down to be used again?