Forest Industry
New Hampshire's forest industry includes timber harvesting and trucking; sawmilling; wood products manufacturing; paper making; and wood energy production.
Timber Harvesting & Trucking
There are an estimated 1,200 loggers, or timber harvesters, in New Hampshire. Well over half have completed the NH Timber Harvesting Council's, Professional Logger Program,a 4-course educational certificate program which focuses on safety and environmental awareness. To view a listing of loggers who have participated in the Professional Logger Program.
Did you know?
- In 2009, 44 million board feet of hardwood sawlogs and 120 million board feet of softwood sawlogs were harvested from the forests of New Hampshire. Total sawlog harvest in 2009 was down about 100 million board feet from the 2005 harvest.
- In that same year 531,000 green tons of hardwood pulpwood and 271 tons of softwood pulpwood was harvested
- Over 1 million tons of whole tree chips were harvested as well
- Logging generated $30 million in financial return to NH's landowners
- Over $3 million in timber tax was returned to NH's municipalities
Source: NEFA, The Economic Importance of New Hampshire's Forest-Based Economy, 2011.
Tina Woodell Christie, Langdon
Sawmilling
The conversion of round logs into lumber or pulp for paper making is the major primary processing activity in New Hampshire. While our forests do produce a small number of veneer quality logs, veneer is processed out of state. White pine continues to be the largest volume sawn in New Hampshire.
Today, there are fewer sawmills than there were 100 years ago but because of efficiency and technology, they saw more volume. For a listing of sawmills and lumber wholesalers in New Hampshire.
For a listing of the major NH species.
Wood for heat and power
Wood provides an equivelant of 6% of electrical power need in New Hampshire. In addition, wood, in the form of wood chips and pellets heats many schools, hospitals, and other buildings throughout the state. One hospital reported saving for $250,000 by using wood chips for heat instead of heating oil. New Hampshire's abundant and renewable wood supply supports the local economy by
New Hampshire no longer has any pulp manufacturing facilities--the main ingedient for paper making. Despite the loss of this component of the forest industry in New Hampshire, pulpwood still finds competitive markets in Maine, Quebec and New York.
