North Harmony State Forest

Red pine trees were planted at this site in in 1947 by the NYS DEC in order to re-forest this site. It had been an agricultural field prior to state ownership, and Red Pine was planted because it grows well on poorer sites and  doesn’t require a lot of years  to reach maturity. The Red pine was beginning to decline due to age, and had reached the end of its productive life  so it was harvested in summer of 2023. You can see some red pine was retained on the site for legacy and wildlife benefit, while the rest was harvested and removed to be utilized as dimensional lumber products. On the left side of the photo note the pile of dead woody debris that were left from the tops of the trees that were harvested. This will naturally decay and return to the soil, meanwhile it will provide mammal habitat for rabbits and small rodents. You will note the area in front of you is relatively open with ample sunlight reaching the forest floor. This sunlight is what is needed to aid in the establishment of natural hardwood seedlings on the site. For now you see native ferns that are occupying the area due to the light provided, but as time progresses hardwood trees and native shrubs will begin to take over. There are hardwood trees such as Black cherry and Red maple in the surrounding area that will naturally seed in the opening created. They will grow into saplings and eventually take over this opening creating thick young forest cover that is beneficial to species like the Ruffed Grouse, who are in decline due to lack of young forest habitat on the landscape. Please join us in watching this site naturally regenerate and change visually and ecologically over time. Feel free to take a photo or a selfie with the forest in the background so we can track growth over time.