Forest Resources Preliminary Draft

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Forest ResourcesPreliminary Draft

• 2007 Comprehensive Land Use Plan
• Commission Meeting June 6, 2006

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Forest Resources Changes since 1997

• Introduction
• Forest Characteristics
• Forest Use
• Forest Industry
• LURC Regulatory Approach
• Forest Resource Issues
• Goals Policies

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Introduction

• Continued emphasis on
• Extensively wooded jurisdiction
• Economic, cultural and biologic importance of
  forestland
• New or increased emphasis on
• Remoteness and the relative absence of
  development of this forestland are the most
  distinctive of the jurisdictions principal
  values

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Forest Characteristics

• Continued emphasis on
• Forest composition
• Sub-boreal Acadian Forest (spruce, fir, other
  softwoods)
• New or increased emphasis on
• Updated forest inventory information
• Stabilized at 275 million cords- 97 more than in
  1950s
• Harvest and growth currently in balance 0.35
  cords per acre per year

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Ownership

• The discussion on ownership has been moved to the
  chapter on development

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Forest Use

• Continued emphasis on
• Variety of opportunities and values (timber
  production, recreation, energy production,
  wildlife habitat, watershed protection)
• Economic, cultural and biological value
• Increasing diversity and intensity of use
• Increasingly recognized importance of
  biodiversity

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Forest Industry

• Continued emphasis on
• Timber harvesting as the major use of forestlands
• New or increased emphasis on
• Importance of forest products industry to
  economic and environmental health of the State
• Increase in production since the 1970s
• Softwood production increased 250
• Partial harvest methods dominate harvest acreage
• Maines position in the forest products market in
  New England, U.S.
• 2 paper producing state in U.S.
• Largest forest products cluster in New England

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Forest Industry contd

• New or increase emphasis on
• Increasingly competitive global marketplace
• Maines forest economy in midst of significant
  changes
• Employment has declined steadily
• Engineered wood composites Center at UMO
  developing new applications and uses for wood

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Recreation

• The discussion on recreation has been moved
  entirely to the Recreation Resources section

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Other Values of the Forest

• The discussion on other values of the forest
  was combined with the forest use discussion

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LURC Regulatory Approach

• Continued emphasis on
• Commissions regulation of timber harvesting
  limited to zoned protection and development
  subdistricts
• Commissions regulation of land management roads
  in management subdistricts
• Standards aim to preserve water quality,
  recreational, and aesthetic values
• M-GN zoning for most forestland
• New or increased emphasis on
• Potential for further limitation of Commission
  jurisdiction
• The Commissions commitment to limiting the
  conversion of working forestland

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Issues

• Continued emphasis on
• Conflicts between uses
• Continue to examine effectiveness of M-GN zone in
  allowing activities to co-exist without adversely
  affecting each other
• Insect and disease outbreaks
• Need to continue to address natural threats that
  can not be predicted

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Issues Continued

• New or increased emphasis on
• Global market forces on the forest industry
• Global wood production has increased dramatically
• Downward pressure on lumber and wood prices
• Increased pressure to get more value per acre
• Increase output per worker to remain competitive

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Issues Continued

• New or increased emphasis on
• Changing Patterns of Ownership
• Ownership of private forestland changing rapidly
• Industrial owners decreased holdings
• Investor owners increased holdings
• Land ownership increasingly separated from
  product manufacturing
• New investor owners have different objectives-
  maximizing the asset value of the timber rather
  than meeting the needs of a mill

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Issues Continued

• New or increased emphasis on
• Fragmentation of ownership
• Trend towards more forest owners with smaller
  parcel sizes
• Less likely that landowners will manage for
  forest products as the size of the parcel
  decreases
• Land divided into smaller parcels becomes more
  ripe for development
• More broad based residential development not
  compatible with industrial forest activities

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Issues Continued

• Decreased emphasis on
• Forest Practices
• No longer relevant
• Sludge Spreading
• Not a forest practice any longer

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Goal

• 1997 Goal
• Conserve, protect and enhance the forest
  resources which are essential to the economy of
  the state as well as the jurisdiction.
• Proposed Goal
• Conserve, protect and enhance the forest resource
  in a way that preserves its important values,
  including timber and fiber production, ecological
  diversity, and recreational opportunities as well
  as the relatively undeveloped remote landscape
  that it creates.

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Policies
1997 Policies
Proposed Policies
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Policies
1997 Policies
Proposed Policies

• Review and make appropriate refinements, from
  time to time, in forest practice standards for
  protection districts in order to make such
  standards effective in minimizing environmental
  degradation. Standards shall be responsive to
  the needs of private land management and to the
  public need for adequate timber resources to
  support the economic base of the state.

• Review and make appropriate refinements, from
  time to time, in forest practice standards for
  protection districts in order to make such
  standards effective in minimizing environmental
  degradation. Standards shall be responsive to
  the needs of private land management and to the
  public need for adequate timber resources to
  support the economic base of the state.

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Policies
1997 Policies
Proposed Policies

• Support efforts by landowners to manage vehicular
  access to private roads when necessary to reduce
  land use conflicts and protect high value natural
  resources.
• Allow harvesting of dead and dying trees
  resulting from insect or disease outbreaks or
  other causes, consistent with the Commissions
  responsibilities for protection of significant
  natural resource values and uses.

• Support efforts by landowners to manage vehicular
  access to private roads when necessary to reduce
  land use conflicts and protect high value natural
  resources.
• Allow harvesting of dead and dying trees
  resulting from insect or disease outbreaks or
  other causes, consistent with the Commissions
  responsibilities for protection of significant
  natural resource values and uses.

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Policies
1997 Policies
Proposed Policies

• Restrict land uses that are not essential to
  forest management or timber production on highly
  productive forestlands.

• Discourage land uses that are not essential to
  forest management or timber production on highly
  productive forestlands.
• Provide an educational program to guide land
  management, including road construction, in an
  environmentally sound manner.

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Policies
1997 Policies
Proposed Policies

• Encourage scientific research and management of
  forest resources in relation to other important
  resources, including study of the effects of
  landspreading of sludge.
• Encourage the use of Maines best management
  practices for forestry.

• Encourage scientific research and management of
  forest resources in relation to other important
  resources.
• Encourage the use of Maines best management
  practices for forestry.