Okay Junebug, for your benefit and others.
The forest products industry has a long history in this country and in many others. For most of America’s history, wood was practically our only fuel. Wood warmed our citizens, produced our iron, powered our machines. Wood products were used in our houses, barns, fences, bridges, even our dams and locks. Everything depended on wood from America’s forests—rural economies, industry, transportation, the building of our cities. In a very real sense, forests were the economic foundation of the American Nation.
A forest is much more than just trees for harvest. Here are just a few of the many ways we depend on forests:
· Clean water. The most and the cleanest water in the country comes from our forests. More than 60 million Americans get their drinking water from watersheds that originate in our national forests and grasslands.
· Recreation. In 1946, our national forests and grasslands hosted just 18 million visitor-days; last year, it was nearly 1 billion—that’s 50 times more! People are coming from all over the world. They come to enjoy our 7,700 miles of national scenic byways. They come to fish and canoe our 4,348 miles of national wild and scenic rivers. They come to hike our 133,087 miles of trails, to camp in our 4,300 campsites—the list goes on and on.
· Wildlife and fish habitat. Our national forests provide 80 percent of the habitat in the lower 48 States for elk, mountain goat, and bighorn sheep. We maintain 28 million acres of wild turkey habitat and half of the country’s blue-ribbon trout streams.
While the above deals primarily with America and the American people, the same concerns apply nearly everywhere. Hollund Industrial Marine holds the promise of changing this dynamic by harvesting trees already lost to the world, and no roads need be built to do it. The bonus for the world, is that many of these trees found in underwater graveyards are among the oldest in the world --- truly ancient forests by anyone's definition. While the trees are dead, they are not destroyed. In fact, the wood is preserved and is some way enhanced by their watery fate. These woods demand premium prices, and a company capable of making this underwater forestry work, may have a ticket to the promised land. And that means profit for everyone.
