Investors are buying up vast tracts of timberland across U.S. in one of market's longest-term bets

When the economy and the market look shaky, gold and government bonds are the traditional places to park money. Lately, some investors have also been looking at something more rooted: timber. The pitch is easy to like: a back-to-basics, natural asset that grows on its own, matures into a harvest and can be cashed in all while you use it to hunt, pitch a tent, or forage. Institutions have been buying timberland at a rate of one million acres per year, according to Bank of America, and some financial advisors say individual investors, including younger Americans priced out of the housing market, are also taking a look at the asset class.