Forestry is an integral part of Alberta’s economy and the prosperity that Albertans enjoy.

Forest products are also a key component of the quality of life we enjoy in Alberta and throughout North America, as they are the main construction material in all new homes. With the continuning growth in the new home building market, both in quantity of new homes built and their average size, this is a significant market for lumber and panelboard products.

• The forest products industry is Alberta's third largest economic sector, generating direct, indirect and induced revenue of more than $11 billion each year.
• The forest industry provides more than 44,000 Albertans with jobs in more than 50 communities - most of them outside the Calgary-Edmonton corridor. 
• These well-paying jobs contribute more than $1.6 billion in household income in our province. 
• Forestry is a primary industry in up to 50 communities in Alberta. Of those, 12 communities are deemed forestry dependent. Click here for a list of these communities.
• Alberta's forest products industry - like the industry in the rest of Canada and North America - are currently suffering through one of the deepest economic slumps in the last 30 years.
• In the past year more than 3,000 Albertans have lost their jobs in the forest industry and the value of Alberta forest products has been reduced by more than $1 Billion in the past 24 months. To learn more about Alberta's forest industry crisis click here.
• The market value of Alberta's forest products has fallen by 36.2% between 2004 and 2007 as a result of a drastic decrease in North American housing starts, falling commodity prices and a rising Canadian dollar.

Environmental Facts

• Alberta’s forest sector has adopted standards that exceed Government of Alberta requirements in a number of areas. These standards include:
  • reforestation
  • harvesting operation procedures
  • effluent discharges and air releases
  • disposal of hazardous materials
  • fuel storage and dispensing facilities
• To safeguard the environment, the forest sector has invested over $5 billion in new capital expenditures and upgrades, giving Alberta some of the most efficient and environmentally-friendly plants in the world.
• New practices and technology allow Alberta’s forest product companies to use virtually all the wood harvested, operate more efficiently and generate fewer emissions to the atmosphere.
• Alberta’s forest companies replenish what they harvest; they are required by law to do so. The industry replants an average of 75 million conifer seedlings each year in Alberta, resulting in the regrowth of two to three trees for every one that is harvested. The industry also works with Mother Nature to help tree species like aspen and poplar regrow naturally.
• New technology has virtually eliminated the discharge of toxins and furans in the production of pulp and paper.

Forestry Facts

• Forests cover nearly 60 per cent of Alberta, with 38 million hectares of forested lands. This is known as the Green Area.
• To ensure the sustainability of Alberta’s forests, government policy does not allow timber harvesting to exceed the forest’s ability to grow.
• The annual forest growth of all inventoried public lands in the province is estimated at 44.5 million cubic metres.
• The net Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) in the green zone is close to 23.1 million cubic metres.
• Less than one percent of the forested land is harvested in any year.
• While timber harvesting has been increasing in recent years, it is still below the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) set by the Alberta Government

Scientific research shows that it takes substantially less energy to convert timber into a usable building material than it does to manufacture either concrete or steel.

Timber is also highly effective at retaining heat. The equivalent thickness of timber is 15 times as effective as concrete, 400 times that of steel and 1770 times better than aluminium.
   -Think Wood: "Consequences - the environmental impact of timber
     throughout the lifecycle"

Once wood products have come to the end of its primary use, it can be reclaimed for use in another building or re-processed as other products. Modern preservative treatments have been developed to allow wood products to be recycled, re-used or composted.

Wood is an organic material and can biodegrade easily. It is also possible to use it as an alternative energy source that can reduce demand for non-renewable fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and coal.

One tonne of wood (sometimes referred to as a cord of wood – 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft.) can produce:

• 7,500,000 toothpicks
• 942 (1lb – 450 gram) books
• 4,384,000 postage stamps
• 12 dining room tables
• 2,700 copies of the daily newspaper

One tonne of dry wood pulp can produce:

• 0.9 tonnes of bathroom tissue
• 1.05 tonnes of paperboard which can produce 1,400 lbs (636 kg) of magazine paper
• 1 tonne of newsprint