Forests of Maine

Forest Ownership (2013)

Maine contains an estimated 17.5 million acres of forest land in 2015. The acreage of forest land has been quite stable since 1960, covering more than 89 percent of the State’s total land area. The number of live trees greater than 1 inch in diameter is approaching 24.4 billion trees. Total timberland estimates reveal the…

Logging in Maine

Hunt Sawmill in Jefferson (2012)

The cutting and moving of logs destined for lumber or paper was a tough, manual effort until the second half of the 20th century. Here is an eyewitness assessment by Louise Dickenson Rich of logging camp life in the 1940’s near Middle Dam in western Maine. I also had to learn to differentiate between a…

Trout Brook Township Campground Baxter Park

Trout Brook from the north side of the bridge on the Perimeter Road in Baxter State Park (2007)

This township is home to Trout Brook Farm Campground in Baxter State Park. A park ranger station is here just off the northern most reach of the park’s Tote Road. Trout Brook flows through in a northeasterly direction to enter Grand Lake Matagamon. The brook crosses the Tote Road near the entrance to the South Branch Ponds. Forest products are harvested in the Scientific Forest Management Area.

South Freeport

South Freeport is on the broad Harraseeket River leading to Casco Bay. Once a shipbuilding center, it now hosts the town’s public wharf, a marina, a boatyard, and the Harraseeket Yacht Club. Winslow Park on the Bay provides recreation and camping opportunities.

Golden Road

The Golden Road, privately owned and mostly unpaved, extends from Millinocket west over 100 miles to the Quebec border at township T5 R20 WELS, a four hour trip.  It was established in the 1970’s as a transportation conduit for raw wood to feed the hungry Great Northern Paper Company mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket.…

Silver Ridge TWP

Logging Truck on 07-00-0, a dirt road in Silver Ridge off the 6000 Road (2014)

Silver Ridge was, once a plantation from 1878 to the 1950s, in Aroostook County, immediately south of Sherman and east of Benedicta Township. Its small and declining population was likely a major factor in surrendering its organization. It is now an unorganized township.  Township population counts are not usually separated from other nearby townships. Both…

Bowdoin College Grant West TWP

[T8 R10 NWP] is located immediately east of Greenville, accessible from that town’s  East Road, then the K1 Road which travels through the township to Gulf Hagas. The K1 road is private and travelers must stop at the North Maine Woods Hedgehog checkpoint on the way to Little Lyford Ponds and Katahdin Iron Works. See…

Manchester

Still a basically rural community, Manchester has maintained its old 1793 North Manchester Meetinghouse. It also features a sustainable forestry project within a few hundred yards of the Meetinghouse on Scribner Hill Road. A suburb of Augusta, the town has substantial frontage on the northern half Cobbosseecontee Lake.

Bowerbank

Skidder with baloon tires and chains at logging operation on Plum Creek land in Bowerbank (2010)

Bowerbank village has substantial frontage on Sebec Lake. The Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic Railway tracks span the northern portion of the township, eventually arriving at Brownville Junction. The large Maine landowner Plum Creek has substantial ownership in Bowerbank. Harvesting the forests with modern machinery is a spectacular sight. See video and map.