Welcome to the Division of Forests and Lands website. I hope you will use this as a means of learning more about the division and New Hampshire's forested resources.

The Northeast State Foresters Association recently released the Economic Importance of New Hampshire forests. Below are highlights of this report. The entire report can be found at www.nefainfo.org. The forest products industry remains one of the top three manufacturing sectors in the state We hope you find the information in the report interesting and useful.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The annual contribution of forest-based manufacturing and forest-related tourism and recreation to the New Hampshire economy is more than $2.6 billion.

• Forest-based manufacturing provided $1.7 billion in value of shipments to the economy in 2001. This is 9.5% of the statewide value for manufacturing.

• Revenues from forest-related recreation and tourism activities totaled $940 million in 2001.

• The forest-based manufacturing economy provides employment for over 9,800 people and generated payrolls of $333 million. Forest-based recreation and tourism provides employment for almost 11,000 and generates payrolls of $159 million.

• New Hampshire landowners received estimated stumpage revenue in 2002 of $34.4 million. Taxes paid to municipalities for timber harvesting was $3.4 million.

• Wood biomass provides approximately 5.8% of energy use in New Hampshire annually.

  Revenues from sales of biomass chips totaled $12.4 million in 2003. Sales from cordwood are valued at $9.3 million annually.

• The sale of Christmas trees, wreaths, and maple syrup contributes $17.5 million.

• Each 1,000 acres of forestland in New Hampshire supports 2.0 forest-based manufacturing jobs, with a payroll of $71,000, and 2.3 forest-related tourism and recreation jobs, with a payroll of $33,830.

The Forest Resource in New Hampshire

New Hampshire covers 5.7 million acres. Eightyfour percent, or 4.7 million acres, is forested. Of these forested acres, 4.5 million acres (93%) are classified as timberland by the USDA Forest Service, or land that is fertile and accessible enough to produce wood as a crop and is not withdrawn from timber harvesting by statute or regulation.

The majority of forestland in New Hampshire (3,714,800 acres or 78%) is privately owned by industrial and non-industrial owners. State and federal government own 1,056,300 acres, or 22% of forestland.