Wed 12 Apr 2023 2:36PM
Forest Management
What do you think about managing timber/working forests to increase carbon sequestration? For context, take a look at the state's Forest Carbon Taskforce page. Could this approach work in Harpswell?
What do you think about managing timber/working forests to increase carbon sequestration? For context, take a look at the state's Forest Carbon Taskforce page. Could this approach work in Harpswell?
Tony Barrett · Thu 13 Apr 2023 2:38PM
I have just over 15 acres in Tree Growth land use in Harpswell for almost 20 years. I have gone through several Forest Management Plans and one timber harvest. My forester was one of the members of the Forest Carbon Taskforce. I would welcome carbon sequestration as one of the goals of my management plans. I think training/education on carbon storage/sequestration would be useful for the town to consider as well as the water runoff, filtering and storage benefits forests provide (Waterwise).
After reading the December 2021 Taskforce report, I have a couple of general comments and then some pertinent to Harpswell forests. The report briefly touches on the conflicting dynamic of development (~15,000 acres/yr of forests converted to homes) and forest conservation. That development pressure is even more intense in Harpswell -- our forest cover is not increasing. Perhaps extra focus by our Land Trust should be on forests. The report did not mention the conversion of forests (and farmland) to solar farms which I feel is a more critical dynamic -- an unintended consequence of Maine's recent solar legislation?
The report only mentions the Open Space land use program (except for brief mention of Tree Growth). Why not Tree Growth as well? There is no penalty for conversion from Tree Growth to Open Space (public access) which is not considered and may be an important factor for woodlot owners to consider passive rather than active forest management.
Silviculture practices (thinning/upgrading/planting) are hard to justify for small woodlots like my 15 acres.
No mention fo market development for low quality timber -- for example, used in wood fiber insulation like by Timber HP in Madison, ME. How to access those markets or contractors willing to come to Harpswell?