Agricultural Experiment Station [Bulletin 337 



70 percent of the total land area supports some form of tree growth. 

 The original forest of the region was composed of a mixture of soft- 

 woods and northern hardwoods. There are still evidences of this ty])e 

 of growth in the wildland sections of Columbia. Logging for saw- 

 timber reached its peak about 1900, and most of the old growth stands 

 of any value have been cut. In recent years the main product has 

 been pulpwood because the pul]:) mills can utilize much smaller mate- 

 rial requiring less time to grow, \vhcreas lumber requires large trees 

 grown on a long rotation. Figures obtained from the recent forest 

 survey' indicate that very little timber over 80 years old remains in 

 the three towns (See Figure 2). By far the largest acreage falls with- 

 in the 41-80 year age class. About half of this acreage supports a 

 sufficient volume of timber to be considered merchantable according 

 to the standards set up for the forest survey. ^ 



The farm woodlands of the area fall roughly into three general 

 classes: (1) even-aged spruce and fir stands originating on abandoned 

 agricultural lands ; (2) northern hardwoods and spruce-hardwoods ; 

 and (3) nearly pure stands of sugar maple. Of much less immediate 

 significance are the scat- 

 tered stands of aspen and TH OUSANDS OF ACR£6 T 

 paper birch which have fol- 

 lowed cutting of other spe- 

 cies, and the cedar and 

 tamarack found on wet 

 sites. 



The condition of the 

 growing stock varies great- 

 ly on difi:"erent holdings. 

 The fact that half the acre- 

 age in the age class that 

 should be merchantable 

 contains less than two 

 thousand board feet per 

 acre indicates that cutting 

 has been heavy. Because 

 nature has been unusually 

 generous, repeated cuttings 

 have not resulted in barren 

 areas such as exist in other 

 parts of the State. The in- 

 herent ability of the local 

 species to reproduce either , 

 from seed or sprout assures 

 regeneration of a sort. 



When advanced reproduction of desirable species and size has 

 been adequate at the time of cutting and protected during logging 



20 40 80 



Fig. 2. Woodland acreage in the 

 studied by types and age classes. 



3 United States Forest Service, et al., The Coos-Essex Project, 



• Plan Timber Survey, unpublished report. 

 * Two thousand board feet or more per acre. 



A Sustained Yield Management 



