Don't We Need These Commodities? Of course. But not from public lands. There's more than enough private land to grow all the trees our nation needs. Only four percent of the wood products Americans use come from the national forests. On the average, this land offers lower productivity on steeper terrain than private forest lands. This land is not only difficult to log; it is also more fragile. Destroying these areas means destroying critical watersheds and habitat. As we pursue alternatives to wood products, private lands can satisfy our need for timber. Lumber represents only 14 percent of the cost of building an new home, so lumber prices would have little effect on housing costs. Changes in interest rates have a much greater effect on housing prices. Stopping public lands ranchers wouldn't affect beef prices, either. Public lands grazing accounts for only three percent of the nation's beef consumption, and it takes 60 times as many acres to graze a single cow on public lands.