1. Historical Context for Forest Management in New England

2. Pre-Settlement: 1600

3. Early Homestead: 1740

4. Height of Clearing: 1830

5. Abandonment: 1850

6. Old Field White Pine: 1910

7. Hardwood release and succession: 1915

8. Young hardwoods: 1930

9. Stand Improvement Cutting

10. Commercial Thinning

11. Shelterwood Harvest

12. Forest Cover Trends in New England Since European Settlement
I want to provide a quick and dirty example of the value of HRV for assessing long-term changes in New England.
If we look at the history of forest change since European Settlement, long-term reforestation and recovery has been strongly influenced by the history of clearing and agriculture in the 19th century, white pine colonization and subsequent clearcutting, the loss of Chestnut and Elm, and commercial forest management practices favoring certain species and limiting or truncating stand development in the 20th century.

13. Wildlife Population Trends in VT and NH Since European Settlement

14. Altered Successional Pathways Resulting from a Complex History of Land-use
Figure from Foster (1992)

15. Differences Between Pre-Settlement and Current Forests in VT and NH
Forest Composition
Species: Abundance:
Chestnut
Elm
Beech
Sugar Maple
Hemlock
White Pine
Red Spruce
White Birch
Cottonwood
Pin Cherry
Red Maple
Communities: Abundance:
Old-Growth Forest of All Types
Floodplain Silver Maple
and Sugar Maple
Rich Lowland Oak/Basswood/Ash
Forested Wetlands
Native Grasslands and Shrublands
Functionally Extirpated
Sources: Cogbill (2000); McLachlan et al. (2000); Fuller et al. 1998; Foster 1992; Siccama (1971)

16. Differences Between Pre-Settlement and Current Forests in VT and NH
Landscape Pattern
Patch Size
Patch Shape Complexity
Fragmentation vs. Connectivity
Bottomland Openings
Ridgeline and Upper-Slope Openings
Topographic Distribution of White Pine
Topographic Distribution of Red Spruce
Sources: Cogbill (2000); Mladenoff and Pastor (1993)