Wood: Wood
is moderately soft, moderately light, weak and close-grained. It
is used for pulp, general construction, poles, posts and mine timbers.
Wildlife:This pine provides cover and food for many northern wildlife species. Seeds are eaten by white-footed mice, red squirrels and chipmunks; and birds like goldfinches, grackles and robins. Deer and hares browse the saplings and porcupines damage the trees when they feed on the bark.
Horticulture: Not an ornamental tree, the
Jack pine is seldom used by landscapers. It is used in the north for windbreaks,
shelterbelts and for reforestation of severely eroded sites. Although the
Jack pine grows faster than most other conservation-planting pine species
in Iowa, the fertile soils support more valuable, larger and more ornamental
conifers.
