Condition of the Forests 



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THE FORESTS of New Hampshire have worn a 

 bit thin. You can see the evidence as you drive 

 along highways in practically any part of the 

 State: the poor brush and weed species growing up 

 on land that once bore good timber; the generally 

 small size of the trees; the thinly stocked stands; the 

 signs of severe cutting; the many decadent trees. 



Small Trees Predominate 



For the State as a whole, the forest survey showed 

 that two-thirds of the growing stock is in trees 12 

 inches d. b. h. or smaller (fig. 13) . Because the larger 

 trees are relatively scarce, there is great pressure for 

 cuttina: these smaller trees. Yet these smaller trees are 



DISTRIBUTION OF VOLUME 

 BY SIZE OF TREES 



SOFTWOODS 



6- 8 



10-12 

 14-18 

 20-24 

 26 + 



*7tf |j ff{jii { |^ 5i5 



PERCENT OF VOLUME 



HARDWOODS 



5- 

 C: a: 



10-12 

 14-16 

 20-24 

 264 



ifeimiiiiiiiiifei 





PERCENT OF VOLUME 



Figure 13. — Small trees predominate in the forests of New 

 Hampshire. Two-thirds of the growing stock volume is 

 found in trees 12 inches d. h. h. and smaller. 



just reaching the size where they are adding board- 

 foot volume most rapidly. 



Stands of young timber cover 61 percent of the 

 commercial forest land (table 5). These stands bear 

 less than 1 ,500 board-feet per acre. Most of this young 

 growth is poletimber and saplings and seedlings. This 

 figure also includes growth on abandoned pastures, 

 recent burns, and cutover areas where there are so 

 few trees that they cannot be classed as forest stands 

 at all. 



The stocking of trees on the land is, for the State as 

 a whole, only fair. Most of the land is at least 40 per- 

 cent stocked; that is, at least 40 percent of the growing 

 space is occupied by trees. 



But stocking is at less than 40 percent on about 

 600,000 acres (fig. 14). Of this area, about one-third 

 is stocked less than 1 percent. Most of the other two- 

 thirds is occupied by sparse seedling-and-sapling 

 stands. Half of this acreage could be planted. Some 

 will regenerate naturally. And some sparse stands 

 will eventually become stands with closed canopies, 

 but the trees will be poorly formed and will have large, 

 limby crowns. 



The greatest problem of regeneration is in the aspen- 

 birch and white pine types. More than one-third of 

 the aspen-birch type group is poorly stocked (less than 



Table 5. — Commercial forest-land area oj New Hampshire, by county 

 and stand-size class, 1948 





Stand-size class 





County 



Saw- 

 timber 



Pole- 

 timber 



Other 



All classes 



Belknap . 



Acres 



92, 300 



315,800 



115,100 



426, 700 



296. 100 



135,600 



198, 900 



95, 300 



41, 900 



90, 600 



Acres 



46, 500 

 138,000 

 158, 500 

 372, 000 

 394, 300 

 154, 100 

 144, 700 

 123, 900 



75, 700 

 128, 300 



Acres 

 67. 600 

 71.600 

 116,100 

 185, 500 

 176,000 

 152, 600 

 136.600 

 108. 000 



61, 800 



62, 100 



Acres 

 206. 400 





525,400 



Cheshire 



389, 700 





984. 200 



Grafton .. . - 



866, 400 



Hillsboro 



442. 300 





480, 200 





327. 200 





179,400 





281, 000 







Total 



1, 808, 300 



1, 736, 000 



1,137,900 



4, 682, 200 







Forest Resources oj New Hampshire 



17 



