There are more trees in the US now than there were 100 years ago.

Yeah, take that Global Warming!

The United States contains 8% of the world’s forests and according to the Food and Agricultural Organization, “Forest growth nationally has exceeded harvest since the 1940s. By 1997, forest growth exceeded harvest by 42 percent and the volume of forest growth was 380 percent greater than it had been in 1920."

Ironically, the East Coast has had the greatest gains even though it was the most heavily logged area by European settlers in the 17th century.

Many factors are responsible. Conservation and preservation at national parks, responsible tree growing within plantations (which have been planting more trees than they harvest), the movement of the majority of the population from rural areas, and the tree planting efforts which started in the 1950s are all to thank.

Most importantly, 63% of the forest land in the US is privately owned and many landowners are leaving their land intact. On the flip side however, this is probably because activities like agriculture and logging have been taken overseas.