Michael Hoppus

The forests of Maine: 2003

In 1999, the Maine Forest Service and USDA Forest Services Forest Inventory and Analysis program implemented a new system for inventorying and monitoring Maines forests. The effects of the spruce budworm epidemic continue to affect the composition, structure, and distribution of Maines forested ecosystems. The area of forest land in Maine has remained stable since the 1970s. Although relatively small acreages of forest are converted to other land uses, these conversions often remove highly valued forests such as white pine. The total inventory volume of live trees increased slightly, indicating the beginning of a response of Maines forest to the tremendous devastation from spruce budworm.

Pennsylvania's forest 2004.

Pennsylvanias forest-land base is stable, covering 16.6 million acres or 58 percent of the land area. Sawtimber volume totals 88.9 billion board feet, an average of about 5,000 board feet per acre. Currently, only half of the forest land that should have advance tree seedling and sapling regeneration is adequately stocked with high-canopy species, and only one-third has adequate regeneration for commercially desirable timber species. Several exotic diseases and insects threaten the health of Pennsylvanias forests. Stressors such as drought, acidic deposition, and ground-level ozone pollution are adversely affecting the States forests.