From Woodlots to House Lots?

A Parcel-level Analysis of Private Forestry in Four Central New Hampshire Towns

Molly Deringer

April 2006

Advisor: Steven Hamburg

Executive Summary

Working forests, or forests managed for timber and fiber resources, serve a number of ecological and cultural functions in addition to providing income and employment through the maintenance of undeveloped landscapes. The heightened pressure to develop rural land has caused the conversion of nearly 4% of New Hampshire’s forestlands to housing over 15 years, and reduced the economic viability of timber and fiber production across the state. As non-industrial private forests (NIPF) become increasingly important to the sustainability of the forest industry in the northeastern US, it is essential for resource and industry planners to understand what portion of NIPF is managed as working forest, what portion is being developed, and how much of total harvest volumes is being produced by working or developed lands. Similarly, an understanding of the relative importance of parcel-size to determining land-use is key to the assessment of the sustainability of NIPF working forests. NIPF forests of Campton, Thornton, Groton, and Rumney, New Hampshire produce roughly 1% of total wood harvested in the state, an amount almost proportional to its land area. Although the four towns vary in level of development and distribution of forestland ownership, small to mid sized lots, 10 to 100 acres in size, contribute the greatest proportion of total harvested volume in each town, and lots 25 to 75 acres contribute, on average, 30% of total harvested volume. However, the majority of harvested lots, by area, are larger than 100 acres, despite the fact that less that 40% of all NIPF lots in Campton and Thornton are this size. In Campton, at least 4% of harvested NIPF lots, by area, have been terminally harvested, in association with land-use conversion. These lots contribute nearly 10% of total harvest volumes in the town. In contrast, 72% of harvested NIPF lots, by area, could be considered stable working forest in Campton. The area of land cleared for development appears to be small, at a rate of only 10 acres per year. This is lower than might be expected given that the recent rate of single family home construction in Campton is over 11 new units per year. However, the relative importance of small to mid sized lots to total timber and fiber production, and the large portion of harvested lots associated with a development indicator, (subdivision, building permit, or current-use disqualification), suggests that a much larger portion (up to 25%) of harvested NIPF in Campton may have a short future as working forest. Ultimately, the integrated drivers of parcelization, owner valuation, and forestry economics will determine the future of the working forests of the increasingly exurban landscape of northern New England. However, for the short term the forest continues to produce fiber based goods sustainably.