There appears to be a rather pervasive public perception that the production and harvesting of trees and the resultant use of wood is inherently an ins.ult to the environment. A significant and perhaps even urgent question for natural resource professionals - foresters, wood scientists, and others intimately involved with the business of providing a · myriad of societal needs through the management of ecosystems and the products of those systems - is whether this perception is correct, and if so, what should be done about it? In other words, can we and should we pursue management policies and actions that would lead to the reduced use of wood and other products of the forest, and is this course a truly "environmental" path?