In the SE the wood/paper/lumber companies have converted mile after mile of territory into 'tree farms'.

These have no relationship to the living forests they replaced. As Susan points out they are monocultures. With every tree being genetically identical to its neighbor. Most of the seedlings planted are cloned. Clones are good for business because all the seedlings have the same requirements and timing. When one needs fertilizer they all need fertilizer. When one is mature enough for thinning or harvest it cane safely be safely assumed the vast majority will be ready.

And because the same stock is used year after year for cloning it is safe to assume that last years management schedule can be repeated and they will get relatively the same results. It greatly improves the predictability of the production process so that it ties in with corporate investment goals and the loan issuance and repayment cycles of the financial world.

The down side is that a tree farm, particularly a pulpwood farm, is a dismal place. I have walked for miles and failed to see even any sign of an animal. Just endless row after row of nearly identical trees, all the same height and diameter, all the same species. No squirrels, no deer, no snakes. Even the birds and insects don't go there. It was very quiet. Just a slight breeze rustling the pine tops. But even that was stifled as the trees were so close together that the wind didn't quite get to the ground. It was a depressing walk.

It was also quite disorienting. It was one of the few places I've needed to use a compass. I stopped for a mid-day snack and when I looked up I wasn't sure which way was north. It was overcast and I couldn't see enough of the sky to use other clues. It reminded me of a Sci-Fi movie where the jail was a vast plane of white nothingness. This was a seemingly endless plane of identical trees. A cynical parody of forest.

I keep this in mind when I read the tracts from the forestry people that tel me 'there are more trees planted now than some earlier time'. The number of trees doesn't count for much if the majority are planted in genetically identical rows, managed and mowed like grass.

Returning to the protected forest was a revelation. A half dozen different types of trees immediately apparent. Several types of grasses, bushy shrubs, weeds, animals and insects. The noises, smells, textures of life.

Clearly not all woods are created equal.