Spruce and fir regrow into a dense, thicket like condition. There are too many trees per acre here for the trees to attain optimum growth. Many large landowners thin their young softwood stands once they reach 8 to 15 feet in height, (usually from age 8 to 15 depending on the site quality).
This area was thinned in the late eighties, note the small stumps and debris on the forest floor. Now, a decade after thinning, the trees are vigorously growing, and the forest canopy has closed in. This picture was taken a few hunded feet from the above shot, (on the east side of Road 2). These trees are probably the same age as those above, but have received the benefit of uncrowded growing conditions and less competition for sunlight, water and soil resources. The shotgun leaned up against the tree provides a sense of scale.
Road 2 Big W Township looking south. This is the same kind of forest that was here before clearcutting, except it's younger, vigorous, and more healthy. The webmaster's truck appears as the small speck parked on the right hand side of the road.
Thinned softwood stands along the west side of Road 2. The bicycle is provided for scale. Was the forest destroyed here, as the environmentalists claim? These clearcuts have provided jobs for the crews who harvested the mature trees, jobs for the people who weeded and thinned these stands, jobs for the foresters who look after and protect these trees, and these clearcuts will provide jobs for harvesting crews again, starting the cycle over again. These clearcuts also provide habitat for partridge, snowshoe hare, moose, deer and many other species of wildlife.lat. N 45 deg. 47.466 min. lon W 69 deg. 45.189 min.