It could be correct that the number of trees total is increasing in America, and that would be excellent if true, but healthy forests require trees that are left to become mature. It also means a complex forest ecology made up of more then a few select species of vegetation. Most of the trees that are planted each year in Canada, are planted as crops, to be logged for industrial use, before being able to reach full maturity. Although there are some companies which are making efforts to log, and manage forests, in a sustainable way. This research is interesting to me, because if we were able produce organic materials such as wood fibre in a lab, it could reduce our dependency on harvesting natural resources, and the impact it has on forests.

Although I don't agree with the sentiment that "At that rate, some scientists predict the world’s forests could disappear in 100 to 200 years.", I would argue there is a distinction between a primary forest, a secondary forest, and a crop.

https://www.globalforestwatch.org/blog/data-and-research/pri...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_degradation

"Since 1990, it is estimated that some 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses, although the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past three decades. Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year, down from 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s. The area of primary forest worldwide has decreased by over 80 million hectares since 1990. More than 100 million hectares of forests are adversely affected by forest fires, pests, diseases, invasive species, drought and adverse weather events.[3]"

I think the 'utility of trees' may not be controversial, but people may have different perspectives on what they view as the 'utility of trees'.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/16/canada-floods-...

https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/blog/map-reveals-british...

https://veridianecological.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/bcs-o...

Although this research is interesting, the use of drones for reforestation may be more immediately applicable. Treeplanting is normally a process which is done by hand. Through the 70's there were a number of innovations in the process, planting via drones may provide further possibilities. Not to mention the application of drones in sites surveys.