The Problem — And What Should Be Done 



45^ 



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NEW HAMPSHIRE is one of the most exten- 

 sively forested States. Its economy is depend- 

 ent, to a considerable degree, upon the condi- 

 tion of the forest resource. About one-fifth of its 

 employment, and about one-sixth of its income, can 

 be attributed to timber-based business. 



The forest problem in New Hampshire can be traced 

 to four current conditions : 



1. Throughout the State, the forest stands are pre- 

 dominantly young. Softwood stands in particular are 

 cut so heavily that few trees are allowed to grow to 

 economic maturity. 



2. The hardwoods, cut less heavily, tend to occupy 

 more and more growing space on the forest lands 

 everywhere in the State. The proportion of hard- 

 woods in the growing stock is increasing. Young 

 hardwood stands are well established, and seed-bear- 

 ing cull hardwoods are distributed widely. The con- 

 ditions that helped softwoods to invade abandoned 

 fields and pastures no longer exist. Maintaining soft- 

 woods on many sites is acknowledged to be not econom- 

 ically practical. 



3. The standing volume in cull hardwood trees and 

 in sawtimber trees of relatively low quality presents a 

 formidable obstacle to good silviculture. 



4. Sawlog timber that meets the quality require- 

 ments of New Hampshire industries has been harvested 

 in recent years faster than it is growing. Operable 

 and accessible stands of good-quality white pine espe- 

 cially are not being replaced fast enough to sustain 

 the present rate of cutting. On the other hand, the 

 volume of timber that is suitable only for pulpwood, 

 fuelwood, and other less demanding uses is increasing 

 faster than it is being cut. 



Where overall growth exceeds the timber cut, as it 

 does in New Hampshire, there is an opportunity to 

 rebuild the forest resources. This rebuilding can come 

 only from intensified and continuous research and 

 from improved management and utilization practices. 

 Available information already points to numerous op- 

 portunities for developing and using New Hampshire's 

 forest resource. 



The coming predominance of hardwoods need not 

 be regarded entirely with dismay. Conversion of for- 



est industry to hardwood utilization has already started. 

 This trend can be accelerated. Climate, soil, and 

 nearness to markets give New Hampshire excellent 

 prospects for producing quality hardwoods not only 

 for local use but for use throughout the industrial 

 Northeast. Measures recommended as the initial steps 

 toward solving the forest problems of New Hampshire 

 follow. 



Imp 



rove Cutting Practices 



Better cutting practice is the key to better produc- 

 tion from the remaining stands of sawtimber. Al- 

 though sawtimber stands occupy less than 40 percent 

 of the commercial forest land, they carry 84 percent of 

 the sawtimber volume. Here is the wood supply for 

 the present. Here, also, lies the greatest opportunity 

 for quick results from modern forest-management 

 methods. 



If these sawtimber stands are cut in accordance with 

 good silviculture, it is possible to shift growth from 

 low-quality to high-quality trees. A forester's help is 

 needed to mark the trees to be cut or left. The State's 

 county foresters, supported cooperatively by the State 

 and Federal Governments under the Cooperative For- 

 est Management Act of 1950, are available to small- 

 forest owners to advise about cutting practices and to 

 mark the trees to be cut. Or owners may employ a 

 consulting forester to supervise the entire job from 

 marking to marketing. Private forestry organizations 

 are also available to serve the small owner. Among 

 them are the Society for the Protection of New Hamp- 

 shire Forests and the New England Forestry Founda- 

 tion. 



Owners who cut so as to leave the land in posses- 

 sion of desirable species for vigorous or high-quality 

 growth meet one of the major requirements for tax 

 abatement under the New Hampshire act relating to 

 forest conservation and taxation (ch. 295, Laws of 

 1949). District forest advisory boards recommend, 

 and the Forestry and Recreation Commission approves, 

 the particular cutting-practice standards that qualify 

 for tax abatement. 



When a sawtimber stand is cut in accordance with 

 good silviculture, seedlings usually get started without 



Forest Resources of New Hampshire 



25 



