Mailbag

Dear Editor,

I am a forest landowner in Louisiana and a proud contributor to the nation’s wood products industry, which provides immense economic and social benefits to the state. In Louisiana alone, there are 15 million acres of private forestland sustainably managed by families and private companies that support 48,000 jobs and contribute $13 billion to Louisiana’s economy.
This week, Oct. 17-23, 2021, is National Forest Products Week, which recognizes the impact of forest landowners, product manufacturers, and wood products on American communities and the U.S. economy. It’s a perfect time to recognize forest landowners that produce not only sustainable wood products, but provide clean air and water, jobs to over 2 million people nationwide and build the houses, schools and buildings that make up your communities.
Our country was founded on forests and the wood products to create and transform our communities. As a forest landowner, I’m proud to be one of thousands of family forest landowners contributing to the wood supply chain while also serving as a steward of the forest. From providing affordable housing to millions of Americans, to producing long-term sustainability that includes removing carbon from the atmosphere, we can’t imagine our world without wood and the forest landowners that manage the forestland.
National Forest Products Week began in 1960 with Congress proclaiming “our country and its people have always found constant strength, individual peace and personal pride in the bounty of forest and timberland; and from the beginning of our Nation’s founding, the forest and its products have provided a core of living and freedom touching and inspiring each citizen with majestic beauty and practical use.”
These words still ring true today and forest landowners are here to ensure that these words remain true into the future.

Sincerely,
David Grassi