The State of New England Forests -Today and in Our Past
By Brady Hesslein and John Leddy
New England Forests are very diverse. They are broadleaf and mixed forests. These forests cover about 91,700 square miles, or about the state of Oregon. Before Europeans began to fully inhabit the region, about 400 years ago, the forests were in very good condition. Native Americans worked the forest in a sustainable fashion and used fire as a tool to manage growth and keep forests healthy.
New England forests are very diverse. They are a middle ground to the warmer, deciduous forests of the southern states, (however not tropical areas like Florida), and are slightly less dense than the spruce forests found to the north.
Deforestation started here during the Age of Exploration. During the sixteenth century lush New England forests attracted the French and the English. In the quest to satisfy an epidemic of European shipbuilding, old growth New England forests fell to satisfy the demand in the Old World. New England trees were exported and known worldwide for the quality of the masts that came from them. The state of deforestation that resulted soon resembled that of early deforestation seen in Europe. In time, forests continued to fall to accommodate the arrival of more and more colonists. At that time, the greatest American industry was farming, and to create the large amounts of field space necessary for faming this land effectively, the people of New England logged the area by clear-cutting the forests so that about 75% had been destroyed. Certainly wood was not only the primary source of building materials bit was also in demand for furniture makers, fishing and whaling industries, a primary source for heating, and an energy source for a host of burgeoning industries. Yet, shortly after this mass cutting, new opportunities on the Western frontier opened up, and this along with the fact that America was quickly becoming an industrial nation, many farmers moved west and abandoned these farms. This started a long period of NE forest re-growth.
Today, however, many people argue that the forests are better now than they were 100 years ago. In some regards this might be true, but this observation simply helps to emphasize the terrible state of degradation and deforestation that has occurred in the past. Also this statement does not take into account the changing nature of New England forests since the arrival of the Europeans and fails to take into consideration the loss of unique species such as the American Chestnut or the epidemic of invasive species plaguing New England forests today. It is estimated that only 0.05% of New England forests is Òold-growthÓ (having been untouched for 250-500 years). The forests that fueled the Age of Exploration are a distant memory.
There are many things that influence the New England forests today. Many commercial enterprises, like ski-resorts, factories, urban sprawl and other development are destroying the forests in those respective areas. Also, a current danger to NE forests today is logging. In colonial times, logging was a factor along rivers, but because there was no other way to transport the wood, most logging sites were situated along the coast or waterways. Today, systems of roadways and a system of trucking makes logging possible virtually anywhere to find a forest. This (logging) is an industry today in areas like Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Logging not only causes the depletion of the forests, but also the endangerment of many of the species indigenous to the area and can contribute to a host of other environmental problems such as erosion, flooding, and the siltation of rivers and depletion of fisheries among others.
Given time, and relief from human intervention there could be a bright future for the New England forests. If many trees remain untouched for the required length of time old-growth forests might again return to the New England landscape.
Bibliography:
1) http://site.www.umb.edu/conne/
2) http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/na/na0410_full.html