People, animals and insects all use trees to provide food and shelter.
Throughout time, trees have played an important role in society, providing people with transportation, clothing, tools, recreation and even music.
Musical
Instruments
Musical instruments like harps, pianos, violins and wind instruments
like the recorder, all use wood.
Transportation
For centuries, seafaring people used wood to make their ships.
Native Americans used trees to make rafts and canoes. Horses
pulled wooden carts so people could move heavy objects. Families
traveled West in covered wagons made from wood. Wood and wood
products still are used in automobiles, boats and airplanes
today.
Tools People used wood to make utensils, baskets, tools, dishes
and devices for hunting and fishing. Even modern tools, like
screwdrivers, use chemicals from trees to make the hard plastic
handles.
Clothing Mohave Indian women used bark from cottonwood trees to
make skirts. People also use dyes made from trees to color cloth.
Today, fabrics such as rayon are made from cellulose we get from trees.
Food Trees produce an abundance of fruits and nuts. Chocolate,
coffee, maple syrup, many spices, and olive, almond and coconut
oils also come from trees.
Recreation Trees offer shade on a hot sunny day and make our surroundings
more beautiful. Hunting, hiking, fishing and camping are some
popular uses of the forest.
Shelter The "beehive" hut was probably the first type of wood
construction followed by the medieval cruck frame. This type
of construction evolved into the post and truss frame building,
which used big columns and beams made from solid wood. The platform
frame used today makes more efficient use of the tree because
it uses smaller and lighter materials while still maintaining
the strength and support we need.
Animals
and Insects Trees provide shelter and food for many animals. Squirrels
eat nuts. Beavers eat the soft inner bark of trees and use trees
to make dams. Birds eat seeds from trees. Even insects feast
on trees!
