RECOMMENDED FOEEST PEACTICE FOR NEW ENGLAND

Abstract

Without debating the question of public regulation of private timberlands, the Committee felt that a useful purpose would be served by reviewing and compiling existing information on desirable forest practices for New England and has undertaken to condense this information into simple workable rules which would keep the forests of this region continuously and economically productive.As a minimum requirement forest practice rules should aim to stop unnecessary forest destruction and deterioration and keep the land reasonably productive. Under certain conditions clear cutting may be undertaken without jeopardizing this objective but such cutting should be confined to harvesting mature stands containing satisfactory reproduction or in the nature of salvage. Partial or selective cutting should be the general rule and, so far as practicable, all desirable immature trees should be preserved for future growth.In the spruce-fir region the main effort should be toward keeping heavily stocked stands which are inadequately stocked with reproduction from being clear cut. Spruce-fir rules are designed to favor partial cutting where reproduction is lacking, yet prevent windfall due to excessive removal.In the northern hardwoods region a cleanup of the poorer old trees is urgently needed, with protection of stands under 60 years of age from heavy cutting except in aspen and paper birch which are considered mature at 30 and 40 years.In the white pine, pine-oak, and oak regions partial cutting should be the rule but clear cutting is permitted under certain conditions.