A newly-approved project will log more than 600 acres, a relatively tiny portion of the Sandwich Range’s more than 35,000 acreage. But it will cut trees near spots popular for hiking, bringing logging trucks to normally quiet slices of the forest.
The Liberty Trail on Mt. Chocorua is one of the most popular hiking paths in the White Mountain National Forest. The trail, flanked by thick woods, laces through the Sandwich Range, a swath of public land along the forest’s southeastern ridge that’s beloved by hikers for its acres of undisturbed wilderness.
Colloquially, many Granite Staters may see the White Mountain National Forest as similar to a national park — a place of nature protected from development and extraction. But in reality, national forests like the one in the White Mountains are managed with economic considerations front of mind — which means supporting local timber industries as well as recreation-based tourism.
“We don't need wood from these public forests — especially these mature and older public forests — to satisfy our wood product needs and demands,” he said. Saco District Ranger Jim Innes pushed back against these concerns, saying only a small sliver of the forest will be affected.The Forest Service claims that the project will help support different wildlife habitats by creating a forest with trees of different ages. The Forest Service also says logging helps make the area more resilient to climate change: Innes called logging “the instrument” to achieving these goals.
“I do think there's room for looking at how forests that are not cut, like those in the Sandwich Range, might serve a better longer term purpose if they're just left alone,” she said.Doner has been mulling for decades the best ways for federal agencies to be environmentally conscious in how they manage public lands. She describes the Forest Service’s mission as something of a paradox: It is expected to protect public lands while also extracting timber from them.
“The Forest Service still maintains a pretty strong collegial relationship with the timber industry,” he said. “In many locales, the timber industry relies on the national forests for timber supply, and the national forests rely on the timber industry to get work done.” She said there can be ecological benefits to forest rejuvenation efforts – cutting down trees to grow new ones – but that the forest service may be particularly focused on getting the timber extracted from these operations.
Birdsey, who studies how forests absorb carbon, called for more action to be taken to protect existing carbon stored in these trees and let them remain standing.Porter expressed frustration about the lack of protections for mature forests in the Forest Service’s proposed policy change.
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