The Yankee Woodlot in Skowhegan

Do you have a special place that you value in your forest? Do you like to be there with friends and family? Do you know what makes the forest “work” and how to support and sustain the forest’s health so that it can, in turn, sustain us? Below are resources that can help you understand what is in your forest and how your forest can be effectively managed for a variety of goals.

1. Decide what you want

• Be Woods Wise: Maine Forest Service
• Woods in Your Backyard: Maine Forest Service
• Caring for Your Land: UMass Extension

2. Decide what you already have

• Forest Trees of Maine: Maine Forest Service
• Seven Hallmarks of a Well-managed Woodland: Maine Forest Service
• Protecting and Enhancing Maine’s Woodland Streams and Other Water Resources: Maine Forest Service
• Wildlife: UMass Amherst
• Recreation: UMass Amherst

3. List potential management options

• Forest Planning: For Success Now and in the Future: University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension
• Forest Management Plan Template (PDF): NRCS

4. Identify labor and financial resources

• Woods Wise Incentives to Stewardship Enhancement (PDF): Maine Forest Service
• Tree Growth Tax Law Information: Maine Forest Service

5. Develop a plan

• Best Management Practices: Maine Forest Service
• Harvesting Timber or Not: UMass Amherst
• Timber Sales: Harvest and Sell Trees with Success: University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension
• The Art and Science of Harvesting Trees: University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension

6. Keep records

• Boundary Line Information: Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
• Wood Harvests: Worker’s Compensation and Landowner Liability: Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
• Tree Growth Tax Law Information: Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
• Logging and Selling Timber: Know Your Forest
• Measuring Timber Products Harvested from Your Woodland (PDF): Know Your Forest
• Contracts for Woodland Owners (PDF): Know Your Forest

7. More information

• USDA Forest Service
• Maine Forest Service
• Caring for Your Land: UMass Amherst
• Caring for Your Woodland: University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension

This work is/was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, RREA project 228285.