NOTE: The tour detailed below for Eagle Pond in Wilmot has been postponed because of ground conditions. Please check forestsociety.org/thingstodo for schedule updates.
Ever wonder how a responsible timber harvest gets done? You can find out by taking a free tour of an active timber harvest site on Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Taves Forest in Roxbury or on Saturday, March 15 (POSTPONED), at Eagle Pond Farm in Wilmot. Both tours run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Society for the Protection of N.H. Forests (Forest Society), UNH Cooperative Extension and Meadowsend Timberlands Ltd. are sponsoring the tours. Participants will learn the nuts and bolts of sustainable forest management and how it supports healthy forests while supplying timber to New Hampshire’s $1.15 billion woods products industry.
The foresters and loggers working on the jobs will act as tour guides and answer participants’ questions.
“It’s an introduction to careful forestry,” said Dave Anderson, director of education for the Forest Society. “We look at which trees are being cut and which ones are being left to grow and why. We also talk about wood markets and end products, about the destination for those piles of logs, what they’re going to be turned into and what they’re worth.”
Careful timber harvesting can improve wildlife habitat, improve recreational access and scenic resources, protect water quality and wetlands and avoid damage to cultural features such as historical cellar holes and stone walls.
“Most people who come to a tour like this take away something that helps them think about their own properties,” Anderson said. “But what always steals the show is the equipment. People love to see the skidders and loaders and log trucks.”
The Taves Forest in Roxbury is one of 174 properties owned by the Forest Society, which manages many of its properties as certified tree farms. Revenue from timber sales helps the organization to buy and conserve more land throughout the state. Eagle Pond Farm in Wilmot is owned by the poet Donald Hall, who has protected his land from development through a conservation easement with the Forest Society.
Admission to the tours is free, but please pre-register by contacting Tina Ripley at 224-9945, ext. 313 or tripley@forestsociety.org.