BOSTON — After more than 150 years of natural regrowth, forest cover is declining across all six New England states, threatening the region’s landscape and chipping away at a natural buffer against global warming.
That’s the conclusion of a study being released today by the Harvard Forest, Harvard University’s laboratory for ecological research.
The study said that after a spate of land clearing by European settlers, New England forests were allowed to grow back.
But that success is being reversed under the pressure of commercial development, industry use and invasive species. Less than 3 percent of New England’s 33 million acres of forest are permanently protected.
The report makes a series of recommendations, including long-term conservation efforts to protect at least 70 percent of the region, or 30 million acres, as forestland.
To learn more, go to Harvard Forest at http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.