Millie LaFontaine lives in Concord.
The air quality over most of the East coast was alarmingly bad last week. We in this part of New Hampshire escaped the worst of it, at least this time, at least relatively speaking. But don’t think it couldn’t happen here.
New Hampshire’s boreal forests are as vulnerable as eastern Canada’s. And our state is 80% forested. I am not an expert on climate or forestry, but it doesn’t take an expert to see the patterns here and to start to see the issues.
I’ve learned recently, that thanks to climate change, earth’s northerly latitudes have experienced record heat and drought in the late spring this year, setting them up for wildfires that are earlier and more massive than normal. Lightning strikes are also more likely in warmer temperatures, and now outpace human carelessness as the principal factor in starting fires in areas where the weather has transformed the forest into a tinderbox.
So here we are, a forested state, perhaps next in line for disaster. What do we do? The U.S. Forest Service is finally recognizing the importance of making forests, including those in New Hampshire, more resilient in the face of climate change. The USFS is actively in the process of formulating rules and best practices to sustainably protect, conserve and manage the nation’s forests. Ironically, it is looking more and more like we need to be looking back, way back, to pre-Columbian times, to understand much of what will work best.
Indigenous peoples have known for centuries things we’re just relearning. Among those practices, they knew that there was wisdom in the forest, and took carefully of its bounty so as not to destroy a system bigger than themselves. They knew that a habitat with a diverse array of trees and plants was superior in every way to a monoculture. They knew that leaving areas undisturbed was superior to exploiting swaths of land, and that creatures needed large connected forests and not disconnected parcels to complete their life cycles in the complex web of life. They knew that clean water emanated from clean, undisturbed places, and that allowing them to remain undisturbed was protective.
Native peoples also knew how to manage fire with fire. Controlled prescribed burns at the right times, and careful harvesting to reduce the excess fuels which have accumulated in some areas have been demonstrated to help make the existing forest more resistant to larger, more destructive burns.
In contrast, the settlers who claimed this land as their own made misguided efforts to convert our boreal forests into pastures and farmland or to clearcut vast acreages to produce lumber. And they were actually overzealous in their fire suppression efforts. Now, as Indigenous peoples did in the past, we need to respect the wisdom of our forests.
What does this entail? We need to identify and inventory our forests, particularly our remaining old-growth forests, and recognize them for the exceptional resource they are. The diversity of life within them is key, as is the habitat they provide for endangered species. We need to conserve and protect what we have already rather than destroy it. We need to preserve forest connectivity. In New Hampshire in particular we need to prevent conversion of our forests to non-forest use.
There have been some encouraging steps in that direction here. Our own Congresswoman Annie Kuster introduced and helped pass an act nationally just this past month, enabling conservation easements so private forest land can remain in forest use, and keeping forests as forests is prioritized. New Hampshire organizations like the Forest Society have been crucial in this effort over the years, and continue their mission to understand, conserve, and educate the public.
The NH Division of Forests and Lands has handbooks for loggers and landowners. Newer forests need to be responsibly logged by trained professionals who understand the value of sustainable harvesting, erosion prevention, and clean water preservation, among other things. Wildlife habitat needs to be protected and interconnected. Carbon sequestration needs to become a priority.
And let’s not forget about our old growth forests. Thanks to our 18th and 19th-century farming practices and 19th and 20th-century logging operations, they constitute only a small percentage of our forests, but they are unique, tremendously biodiverse, and unparalleled for carbon storage, as well as vital sources of clean water. These are a treasure that cannot be eliminated by 21st-century shortsightedness.
It’s easy to throw up our hands and let climate change continue on its inexorable path, sending our forests up in smoke. For me, actually getting out into the woods is what has helped me see the urgency of protecting what we have. There are accessible mature and old growth forests in Franconia, Lincoln, Tamworth, Bradford, and Hillsborough, among other places, where we can see them first-hand. Go and check them out!
Also, The U.S. Forest Service is actively soliciting public comments for formulating its climate resilience rules from now until July 20th. I’m planning to write the director of the USFS Policy Office at regulations.gov/document/FS-2023-0006-0002. Will you join me?