Maine’s Tree Growth Tax Law provides substantial property tax relief for forest landowners who commit to sustainable timber management, reducing tax bills by up to 95% compared to fair market valuations. Since 1972, this program has enrolled over 11.2 million acres—roughly 60% of Maine’s forestland—while protecting working forests from development pressure through a unique current-use…
The spruce budworm is back in Maine’s northern forests, and with it comes a troubling revelation about the financial management of our state’s forest industry. In December 2024, Senator Susan Collins secured $14 million in federal disaster relief funding to combat the spreading infestation, supplemented by $2 million in state funding proposed by Governor Mills….
If you own forested land, you’ve probably thought about how to manage it—whether that’s for timber, wildlife, or simply keeping it healthy for future generations. You might have heard terms like “selective cutting” or “shelterwood” thrown around at forestry workshops. But there’s another approach that’s gaining attention among ecologically-minded landowners, and it goes by a…
The Loggers Economic Assistance and Relief Act, recently introduced by Representatives Jared Golden and Susan Collins, proposes to establish a permanent disaster relief program for timber businesses within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While proponents frame this as simply extending to loggers the same protections farmers and fishermen enjoy, the legislation is more accurately understood…
If you’re involved in forestry or timber management, you’ve likely encountered the term QMD. But what is QMD, and why does it matter for managing forests effectively? In this guide, we’ll break down this important forestry metric in simple terms. What is QMD? QMD stands for Quadratic Mean Diameter, a statistical measure used in forestry…
Forest carbon credit markets have a fundamental problem: they’re trying to fix climate change while selling indulgences to polluters. After 25 years of attempts, reforms, and scandals, the evidence is overwhelming that these markets systematically overstate their climate benefits by factors of 5 to 10 times or more. Research from Berkeley, Oxford, Cambridge, and Penn…
Here’s some good news: you don’t need to wait 500 years to turn your woodlot into an old-growth forest (or at least give it old-growth characteristics). With the right approach, you can develop many of the features that make old forests special—towering trees, complex structure, abundant wildlife—in just 30 to 50 years. The secret? Work…
Seed tree harvesting offers forest landowners a cost-effective path to natural regeneration that cuts establishment costs by 50-70% compared to planting while preserving locally adapted genetics. This silvicultural method, where 4-12 superior trees per acre remain after harvest to reseed the site, strikes a balance between clearcutting’s operational efficiency and more complex regeneration systems—but success…
Forest land is possibly one of the most personally-rewarding assets one can own. They can provide a source of lumber, recreation, and even meaning as you watch your trees grow. Even so, many owners of forest land understandably want to get more than just personal reward: they want financial reward. The most common and well-known…
It is no secret that using a chainsaw is dangerous. In fact, logging is consistently the most dangerous profession in the United States due in no small part to the use of chainsaws (and of course the risks of felling trees). However, there is one part of chainsaw use that causes disproportionate fear among those…