For Kids, Families and Teachers
84% of New Hampshire is covered by forests. They filter water and air and give us wildlife habitat, visual beauty, and forest products. They are also the living record of our natural and human history.
New Hampshire's forests are young compared to other North American woodlands. At the end of the last Ice Age, the first spruce and fir trees colonized this area about 10,000 years ago. The combinations of trees we see around us today were started only 2,000 years ago. However, most of the trees in New Hampshire today are less than 100 years old because early settlers cleared most of the land to farm.
If you are interested in more information about New Hampshire's forests for a class project, click here. Be very specific in what you want to know. New Hampshire's forests are vast and so is the information available about them. Include your postal address.
One fun way to be involved with trees is to celebrate Arbor Day.
Forest Conservation Week
Each year, the Governor issues a proclamation honoring Arbor Day and Forest Conservation Week. Forest Conservation Week is held during the first full school week after Arbor Day.
Forest Conservation Week encourages all citizens to properly care for our forests. According to New Hampshire state law:
The governor shall annually proclaim forest conservation week, to encourage the proper care and utilization of the state's forest resources. The governor shall urge forest landowners to observe the occasion by seeking professional forestry advice on the forest management of their woodlots and shall urge others to develop a greater awareness of the forest by obtaining informational pamphlets, publications and material, and by participating in forestry education activities and programs.
The above was adapted from a NH Project Learning Tree, "Teacher's Guide for Arbor Day & Tree Planting Celebrations in New Hampshire" (focus on grades 3-6). Copies are available from the Forestry Information Center. When sending an email please provide contact information (phone number and post office address). The center can also be reached for callers in any of the New England states at 1-800-444-8978. The postal address is Rm 211 Nesmith Hall, 131 Main Street, Durham, NH, 03824.
Other Helpful Websites:
- Conservation Education- USDA Forest Service
- Environmental Education & Training Partnership
- Environmental Education for Kids
- Environmental Inquiry
- Environmental Literacy Council
- Envirothon
- EPA Environmental Education Center
- Explore The Outdoors
- NH Ag in the Classroom
- NH Fish & Game Wild Resources
- NH Project Learning Tree
- Project WET
- Project WILD
- Technical Association of the Paper & Pulp Industry
- Treetures
- Water Science for Schools
