The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests conducts carefully planned and carried out harvesting operations on some of its reservations for income and to help promote new growth. A group of us were invited to watch a harvesting operation in the winter of 2020 which is the preferred time to carry out such projects since the ground would be frozen.
I returned a couple of months later after they had finished, and they were no longer worried about safety to other people, to take some more videos and pictures. I hope to return in the future to see how the forest repopulates the cleared areas.
The Cut To Length Harvester measures and cuts the trees and even records what is cut to compare with what the mills purchase. It's designed to take down a tree with minimal damage to the surrounding forests and the wide treads spread out the weight and do surprisingly little damage to the ground.
The Forwarder carries the logs to the landing where
trucks will collect them for transport to the mills.
Tree limbs are laid across logging trails to minimize the ruts that would be created by the Forwarder. Steps are also taken to protect any wetlands in the harvest area.
The damage may look serious, but the ground has not been churned up so there will be little if any erosion and the Forest Society will monitor what happens over the following years. Grasses, shrubs, and eventually trees will naturally reseed the open areas.
To learn more visit
And feel free to come to some of our Forest Reservations.
