[Andrew Byler]

The US also dwarfs the Europeans in reforestation efforts...

That depends on what part of Europe you are thinking of. Germany, Scandanavia, and Russia all have huge forested areas. Italy, France, Britain, Poland, former Yugoslavia, not so much. Ukraine, Hungary, Greece, Spain, Romania (except Transylvania), and Portugal were never particularly wooded (like our great plains or prarie).

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

"Italy, France, Britain, Poland, former Yugoslavia, not so much."

I have been to all these countries, and agree that Italy's trees are pretty much in its mountains. The Romans denuded the country as well as some of the others mentioned. France, Britain, Poland and former Yugoslavia all appeared to have large numbers of forested areas. Greece, Spain and Hungary did appear to not have large forested areas (at least where I visited).

Germans have always had a connection with their forests.