Two of these, both pulp and paper companies, each 

 own more than 100,000 acres. The other large own- 

 ers are pulp and paper companies, a hardwood spe- 

 cialty manufacturer, an estate, a college, and a sports- 

 man's club. 



Table 2. — Ownership of commercial forest land in J^ew Hampshire, 

 1948 



Ownership clas 



Commercial forest-land 

 area 



Private: 



Farm forests; ' 



On 5 900 farms of 100 acres and more ^ 



Acres 

 861, 300 

 178, 200 



Percent 



18 





4 







Total 



1, 039, 500 



22 







Industrial and other forests; 



601, 100 



138, 500 



2,220,700 



13 



13 holdings of 5 000 to 25 000 acres 





24,000 holdings smaller than 5,000 acres' 



47 



Total 



2, 960, 300 



63 







All private (about 35,000 holdings) 



3, 999, 800 



85 



Public; 



580, 400 



5, 2uO 



44, 500 



52, 300 



13 



Other Federal . 



(*) 





1 



Town city and county . .. . . - 



1 







All public . - _ . _. 



682, 400 



15 







Total, public and private . . 



4, 682. 200 



100 







1 Census of Agriculture. 1950. 



2 Estimated on the assumption that all farms of 100 acres or more contain for- 

 est acreage. Farm size class refers to gross acreage, including nonforest land. 



3 Estimated on the basis of sampling procedure. 

 ' Less than 1 percent. 



Puhlic 



Of the publicly owned commercial forest land, 

 580,400 acres are in the White Mountain National 

 Forest." This land was purchased by the Federal 

 Government under the Weeks Act to assure protection 

 of important watersheds and sustained production of 

 timber. The forest is managed to serve both of these 

 purposes as well as recreational use and game 

 production. 



New Hampshire has a system of small State-owned 

 forests and parks that include 44,500 acres of com- 

 mercial forest land. These forests and parks are occa- 

 sionally added to by purchase and gift. ITie towns, 

 cities, and counties own 52,300 acres of commercial 



forest land. Although tax-foreclosed lands are usually 

 sold to private persons, they are sometimes retained as 

 town forests, municipal watersheds, and the like. All 

 together, the lands held by the State and local public 

 agencies amount to only 2 percent of the total com- 

 mercial forest acreage. 



Most of the publicly owned forest lands lie in the 

 three northern counties of the State (table 3). A 

 third of the commercial forest land in Grafton County, 

 a fourth of that in Carroll County, and nearly a fifth 

 of that in Coos County are owned by public agencies. 



Table 3. — Ownership of commercial forest land in New Hampshire, 

 by county, 1948 







Public 





Private 





County 



Federal 



State 



Town, 

 city, 

 and 



county 



Farm 



Indus- 

 trial and 



other 

 nonfarm 



Total 



Belknap 



Carroll .._ 



Cheshire 



Acres 

 800 



132,700 

 900 



168, 700 



279, OOU 



Acres 

 1,900 

 5, 100 

 4,300 

 5, 200 

 6,000 

 3, 100 

 10, 200 

 3, 8uu 

 200 

 4,700 



Acres 

 2,700 

 1,300 

 6,800 

 4,800 

 9, 800 

 8,700 

 8,300 

 4,100 

 2,700 

 3,100 



Acres 

 69, 700 

 60, 000 



82, 200 

 103, 000 

 199, 300 

 139, '.300 

 146, 200 



97, 800 

 58, 700 



83, 300 



Acres 

 131,300 

 326, 300 

 295, 500 

 702, 500 

 372, 300 

 291, 200 

 312,000 

 221, 500 

 117,800 

 189, 900 



Acres 

 206, 400 

 525, 400 

 389, 700 

 984, 200 



Grafton __ 



866, 400 





442, 300 



Merrimack 



3,500 



480, 200 

 327, 200 



Strafford 





179,400 



Sullivan _ 





281,000 









Total 



585, 600 



44, 500 



52, 300 



1, 039, 500 



2, 960, 300 



4, 682, 2C0 



The Forest Types 



The pattern of forest types " in New Hampshire is 

 rather complex. Fourteen different cover types were 

 recognized in the forest survey. For convenience, they 

 have been divided into four broad type groups. 



The white pine group (fig. 9) occupies 29 percent 

 of all the commercial forest land. It includes four 

 forest types: 



Acres 



White pine 760, 000 



White pine-hardwood 331, 600 



Hemlock 223, 300 



Pitch pine 24, 500 



Total 1, 339,400 



'^ The White Mountain National Forest covers 651,900 

 acres, but 71,500 acres are classified as noncommercial forest 

 land. 



'' A forest type is named according to the species that make 

 up 50 percent or more of the timber stand. In sawtirnber 

 stands the percentage is based on net board-foot volume, in 

 other stands on number of stems 1 inch or more in diameter 

 at breast height ( d. b. h. ) . 



Forest Resources of New Hampshire 



11 



