Forest Industry

New Hampshire is one of the most densely forested states in the country. Growing forests cover 84% of the Granite State, and as a renewable resource, supply many values to the state and regional economy.

The forest industry is the oldest land based industry in the state. There is no New Hampshire industry which exemplifies the independent Yankee spirit more than the forest products industry. It began in 1634, when New Hampshire sent its first cargo of masts to England, destined for the great ships of the Royal Navy. By 1652, white pine was the premier mast making material. As a result, the King decreed all mast trees growing in the colonies were the property of England.

New Hampshire's citizens strongly disagreed and rioting broke out in Exeter and Weare. Soon after, New Hampshire's patriots joined in the American Revolution, not for tea but to protect their timber supply. (source: The Lumber Cooperator 7/87)

Today, New Hampshire's forests provide a wide variety of goods to meet our everyday needs and comforts. Forests are a source of aesthetic and recreational enjoyment, a critical habitat for wildlife, and a natural filter assuring water quality. Maintaining a viable forest products industry with enough economic incentive for landowners to hold and manage forest land is vital to the stewardship ethic. Opportunities exist to expand economic development through forestry while maintaining the existing forest resource base.

The Forest Industry
New Hampshire's forest industry includes timber harvesting and trucking; primary processing; wood products manufacturing; pulp and paper making; and wood energy production.

Timber Harvesting and 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 click here.

• Logging generates $37 million in financial return to NH's landowners

• Almost $4 million in timber tax is returned to NH's municipalities

• Wood delivered to regional markets is worth an estimated $132 million

• In 2001, 255 million board feet of softwood and 62 million board feet of hardwood sawlogs were harvested in 1997

• Almost 1 million green tons of biomass chips fed NH's wood-to-energy plants.

Common Units of Measurement in the Forest Products Industry
Board Foot = 1' x 1' x 1". Used to measure trees, logs and lumber.

Cord = 128 cubic feet of space stacked with wood. Used to measure pulp wood, fuelwood and wood chips.

An 18 wheel truckload of lumber contains approximately 12,000 board feet of lumber.

A lumber pile 42" x 42" x 10' contains between 1,000 - 1,200 board feet of lumber.


Primary Processing
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, they are processed out of state. The largest volume sawn in New Hampshire continues to be white pine.

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 click here.

This chart tracks the sawmill production over time.

Wood Products Manufacturing
Secondary manufacturing refers to the drying, planing, cutting and assembly of lumber into parts or finished products. New Hampshire's wood product manufacturers range from small one and two person wood shops to large furniture manufacturers employing hundreds. For a listing of the major NH species click here.



Wood product manufacturing industries within the state are a critical link in the value-added chain retaining the economic benefits from the forest resource. The following chart illustrates that every $1 value in a standing tree has the potential to add (using hard maple as an example) $27 in value. Simply manufacturing a log into lumber increased the wood value six times.

Pulp and Paper

New Hampshire no longer has any pulp mills capable of processing wood into pulp 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.

Wood energy

Wood provides 6% of electrical and heating needs in New Hampshire . Wood fiber and bark burned for energy are referred to as biomass and come from two sources: sawmill residue, and from tops and low quality stems of harvested trees (whole tree chips). Six biomass plants consume 1.7 million tons of chips per year. The biomass market provides an important outlet for low-grade wood, a material neither suitable nor economical to process for lumber or paper. Revenues from sale of biomass chips in 2005 totaled $45 million.

The firewood market has declined significantly since a peak in the early 1980’s, but recent increases in home heating fuel prices is contributing to renewed interest in wood as residential fuel, with accompanying increases in demand and price. In 2005, 50,200 cords of firewood were harvested and processed in New Hampshire at an approximate value of $10 million.

New Hampshire's wood pellet manufacturer, New England Wood Pellet, has increased production to approximately 100,000 tons/year. The market for pellets has increased dramatically as the price of oil has spiralled upward. Wood pellet manufacturing requires dry sawdust as a feed stock. Green sawdust and bark-free chips can be used after processing and drying.