How much paper can you get from one tree? It depends. Here’s why.

First, unit measurements of pulpwood (for paper and packaging) and sawlogs (for lumber and wood products) are in "cords" and "board feet" respectfully. A pulpwood cord is a stack of logs four feet tall, four feet deep and eight feet long (4 x 4 x 8). All measurements of how much wood fiber is used to produce paper products are in cords or tons.

Second, the initial step in preparing logs for pulpmaking is to remove the bark. It is unsuitable for paper production, but is burned by paper firms to produce energy. However, depending on the type of tree, bark can account for 10 to 20 percent of a tree’s volume.

Third, different trees yield varying quantities of pulp. It varies, for example, by species (hardwood, softwood and aspen) and subspecies (red pine, jack pine, white pine).

Fourth, different paper grades — tissue, computer, magazine, book — require different volumes or densities of pulp. Even within the book grades, there are different weights of paper which require more or less volume of pulp (and wood fiber).

Because of these variables, it isn’t possible to determine how many books are made from a single tree. However, it is possible to estimate — in general numbers — how many different products may be produced from a cord of wood.

The following list identifies the following yields from a "generic" cord of wood:

	12 dining room table sets (seating eight)
	30 rocking chairs
	250 copies of the Sunday New York Times
	942 one-pound books
	1,000 to 2,000 pounds of paper (depending on grade)
	1,200 copies of National Geographic magazine
	2,700 copies of an average (36 page) daily newspaper
	4,000 one-gallon milk containers
	61,370 standard (#10) envelopes
	89,870 sheets of letterhead bond paper
	460,000 personal checks
	4,384,000 postage stamps
	7,500,000 toothpicks

Additionally, an 1,800 square foot home requires about 10,000 board feet of lumber (roughly equal to about 20 cords of wood).

One other interesting rule of thumb is that an acre of forested land may yield an average of 10-15 cords of wood when harvested at maturity — depending not only on the size of the trees, but how productively the land has been managed.