Content copyright . Northwood Area Land Management Collaborative. All rights reserved.
NH
Fish & Game Department in cooperation with NH Department of
Resources and Economic Development (DRED) conducted a timber
harvest at Forest Peters Wildlife Management Area in
Northwood. The harvest area included thinning 24 acres in a
hemlock stand and a series of clear cuts totaling 24 acres in a
pine-oak-maple stand. The area was accessed from Winding Hill
Road.
The
hemlock thinning was part of a research project conducted by the
USDA Forest Service to study the relationship of silvicultural
strategies for hemlock management in eastern forests that may be
threatened by the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae).
According
to the USDA Forest Service, the hemlock woolly adelgid is native to
Asia, and is a small, aphid-like insect that threatens the health and
sustainability of eastern hemlock (Tsuga
canadensis)
and Carolina hemlock (Tsuga
caroliniana)
in the Eastern United States. Hemlock woolly adelgid was first
reported in the Eastern United States in 1951 near Richmond,
Virginia. By 2005, it was established in portions of 16 States from
Maine to Georgia, where infestations covered about half of the range
of hemlock. Areas of extensive tree mortality and decline are found
throughout the infested region. The woolly adelgid has already been
found on Northwood Lake but has not yet made its way to the Forest
Peters Wildlife Management Area.
The
proposed clear cuts were designed to regenerate young forest habitats in
pine-oak-maple stands to create valuable wildlife habitat, already in
decline in this region of the state. The cuts ranged in size from
5-10 acres each. These openings enhanced habitat conditions for
wildlife species listed in the NH Wildlife Action Plan that will be a
primary target for management in the project area, including black
racer snakes, smooth green snakes, whip-poor-wills, and ruffed grouse
among other species.
A
public tour was held in August, and actual
harvest activities began in September, depending
on availably of the contractor who was awarded the bid. The Forest
Service will continue to monitor the site for 10 years to study the effects
of timber management on forest health.
Click here for a map of the Patch Cut areas, outlined in orange.
