Forest History

As with Merck Forest, most of the forests we see today in Vermont were open fields a century ago as agriculture dominated the land use patterns until after the Civil War. Farm production reached its peak in this area around 1870, when about 75% of the arable land was kept open for agricultural fields or pasture. At the turn of the 20th century (1900) farming was rapidly declining, much as it continues today, allowing many of the fields to be invaded by tree species such as white pine, white and yellow birch, black cherry, sugar maple and poplar. Over the next forty years most of the stands were cut at least once with the wood being used for lumber, charcoal production, firewood, and pulp to make paper.

Photo courtesy of the Harwood Family