Contrary to some members of the network, I think the EcoPaper issue is a debata ble one and the price information is a necessary part. I do not know or want t o know anything about paper making, but I suspect that paper companies could ma ke just as environmentally safe paper at $15 per ream as this. But that is not the whole issue. Deforestation is not the cutting down of trees even old growth trees, rather it is the change in land use from forestry to something else, usually agriculture, and not all paper comes from old growth forests. The use of alternative crops such as hemp or kenaf will infact increase deforestation. The land to produce fiber from these plants must come from somewhere. If certain types of agriculture are displaced then the displaced agriculture will move into forested lands. In the South, where most of the fiber will come from in the future, small, private forest owners are possibly own the largest amount of forested land. If they can no longer sell trees for fiber, then what will happen to their forest ? I suspect that a stronger demand, and higher price, for pulpwood would incre ase the amount of land in forest. When trees are used for wood and fiber, carbon is probably the major element that is removed from the forest. When plants such as hemp, kenaf and grasses are harvested, large quantities of N, P, K and possibly other nutrients are rem oved and must be replaced. ************************************************* Laurin Wheeler gw27038@uafsysb.uark.edu
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