New Hampshire is nearly 85% forested, and NRCS regularly works with forest landowners to address resource concerns on their lands. The information below can help you find out more about forestry conservation practices in the Granite State.
How to Achieve a Healthy Forest:
The first step to having a healthy productive forest is a clear, comprehensive Forest Management Plan (FMP), written by a licensed New Hampshire forester. A good management plan can help clarify your forest stewardship goals and objectives, and identify resource concerns on your property.
Using that forest management plan, NRCS staff can assist in helping you plan and implement practices to address resource concerns and help you reach your land management goals. Forest management often goes hand-in-hand with wildlife habitat management, and NRCS practices can help diversify our landscape to provide healthy forests and vibrant wildlife habitat.
Popular New Hampshire Forestry Practices
Forest Management Plan
NRCS has funding available for landowners to help with an inventory and management plan written by a NH Licensed Forester. The plan includes a detailed on-the-ground inventory, a written management plan, and a list of recommended practices to achieve your management goals.
If you have an existing management plan that you would like updated, NRCS has options that can help fund a re-inventory of your property.
Forest Stand Improvement
Removing unhealthy or undesirable trees can help improve the composition, vigor, and health of your forest. The Forest Stand Improvement practice can be useful in these situations where it would otherwise be difficult economically to get this work done. This practice is often accomplished during a timber harvest, working with a forester and logger.
Forest Stand Improvement can be used in many different situations, including to:
- Improve the spacing of trees to increase growth rates and vigor
- Influence the species composition to meet your goals and objectives
- Concentrate growth in healthy, valuable crop trees
- Increase carbon storage and sequestration
- Create patch openings in degraded stands to re-initiate a young forest
- Initiate stand regeneration
- Layout and mark a commercial timber harvest to protect sensitive features
Forest Trails and Landings
During a timber harvest, forest trails, landings, and stream crossings are areas that require careful planning to prevent soil erosion, sedimentation, and impacts to wetlands. This practice can help landowners create or improve these features in a way that reduces the possibility of negative impacts to natural resources.
The Forest Trails and Landings practice can be used to:
- Create and stabilize forest trails
- Create and stabilize log landings
- Create and stabilize temporary stream crossings
Brush Management
Invasive species can pose a threat to the biodiversity and health of our forests. The Brush Management practice can help landowners deal with these invasive threats, as well as a few nuisance native species, to achieve their management goals.
Both mechanical and chemical management techniques can be beneficial in certain circumstances. NRCS can work with you and your forester to come up with an effective strategy for your land.
Early Successional Habitat Development and Management
Young (early successional) forests provide important habitat for a number of species in New Hampshire, especially for certain songbirds and small mammals. Several species with declining populations require this type of habitat, and this practice can help landowners help these species.
This practice can be used to:
- Create patch cuts in forested areas with degraded or poor quality trees
- Mow old fields or young forests to keep them open
Tree and Shrub Establishment
This practice can be used to plant of the species of trees and/or shrubs that meet your management objectives.
If desired, NRCS can recommend native woody plant species that are ideal for attracting wildlife to your property or for benefitting native pollinators in your area.