OUR LIVING PLANET, OUR ONLY SOURCE OF LIFE IS DYING FAST —IT'S UP  US TO SAVE HER AND OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURES

Today, urban trees are typically managed primarily for their living benefits and value. Felled urban trees are rarely harvested with an eye toward additional uses, even though timber from American urban areas could produce 4 billion board feet of lumber annually. The failure to manage trees from seed to sawdust leads to the unnecessary loss of valuable natural resources and unnecessary expenses for communities and homeowners. We are losing more than just a resource. When we cut down trees and grind them up for whatever reason we are also hasening the release of more greenhouse gases into our atmosphere so its best for us to do what we can to use the wood from our trees and sequestor the carbon.

The following description of highest and best use is from the Urban Forest Products Alliance .

Highest and best use: Use that garners the greatest economic, social, and environmental return given the quality and quantity of the resource. Highest use maintains the greatest integrity of the resource, even showcasing it, and best use acknowledges practical economic, environmental, and societal realities.

We agree with the Urban Forest Products Alliance vision and embrace it.