What is a Forest? Can you see the Forest for the trees?
Have you ever heard the expression “they couldn’t see the forest for the trees”? This is a fairly common expression meaning that someone is focusing on some detail and can’t see the “big picture”.
Our forests have supported the most successful businesses in the history of Maine and New Brunswick. Companies that owned lumbermills, and pulp and paper mills traditionally also owned large tracts of forest land which were able to provide raw materials needed to make the finished products forever (sustainably).
As Bob Dylan said, “the times, they are a changin’”.
The rapid change in forest land ownership has arisen from the creation of Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs) and Real Estate Income Trusts (REITs). Both TIMOs and REITs offer significant tax breaks on forest land that is attached to semi-long term investments (10 years or so). These agreements usually include a contract for provision of raw materials to the mill and a certain return on investment to the investors. Canada recently repealed its law regarding tax credits for TIMOs. Over 70% of industrial forest land in Maine has changed hand in the past decade, and it seems that the industry is currently doing more inventory management than sustainable forest management.
What makes a forest? Is it the trees? Is it the birds and mammals? Is it the soil?
Of course all of these things and more make up a forest. It is easiest to think of a forest made up of a myriad of forest communities. Each forest community type is made up of its own characteristic soils, drainage, terrain, and associated vegetation and wildlife associates.