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The forest cover in New England is almost 80% - about what it was when the Pilgrims landed. Since hitting a low below 40% in 1830 it is now the most forested r
by asmithmd1 13y ago
The forest cover in New England is almost 80% - about what it was when the Pilgrims landed. Since hitting a low below 40% in 1830 it is now the most forested region in the US as well as one of the most densely populated.
http://www.wildlandsandwoodlands.org http://www.wildlandsandwoodlands.org
How did this happen? People stopped trying to eke out a living farming the thin rocky soil during the short growing season and went to work at the mills and factories.
- kokey 13y agoIt also helps that we can transport food over longer distances, have working markets to facilitate this, and crop yields having tripled since the 60s, and if it wasn't for biofuels the US would have been reducing the amount of land for agriculture instead of increasing it.
- talmand 13y agoIt also helps that we actively do our best to prevent and put out forest fires.
- smackfu 13y agoYep, it's quite common in New England to find stone walls in the middle of a forest, that used to be on the edge of a field. Further, it's kind of amazing to think that the woods down the street had someone pull all the rocks out at some point... makes you reconsider what you consider "natural".
- asmithmd1 13y agoAnd makes you reconsider what hard work is.
- dpark 13y agoPeople also stopped cutting down all the trees to heat their homes. Moving to fossil fuels for heating meant that people could reasonably keep trees on their property without needing to cut them down for firewood (and without neighbors cutting them down for the same reason).