Table 1. - Annual estimates, uncertainty, and change

Figure 1. - Area of timberland and forest land by year.

Figure 2. - Area of timberland of the top four forest types 

by stand-size class.

Maine’s Forest Resources, 2008 Research Note NRS-53

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for this state based upon an annual inventory 

conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest 

Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more 

information please refer to page 4 of this report.

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Figure 3. - Area of timberland by stand-size class and 

year.

Estimate 

(2008)

Sampling 

error (%)

Change (%) 

since 2003

Area (1,000 acres) 17,657.5 0.4 -0.3

Annual harvest removals of live 

trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 608,685.0 5.4 20.7

Annual other removals of live trees 

(1,000 ft3

/year) 5,150.6 27.0 -83.7

Timberland Estimates

Area (1,000 acres) 17,148.6 0.5 -0.3

Number of growing-stock trees 

(million trees) 2,674.8 1.6 -0.6

Biomass of live trees > 1-inch 

diameter (1,000 tons) 647,400.4 1.0 1.3

Net volume of live trees > 5-inch 

diameter (1,000,000 ft3

) 24,789.6 1.2 -0.7

Net volume of growing-stock trees 

(1,000,000 ft3

) 23,148.2 1.3 -0.9

Annual net growth of growing-stock 

trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 574,691.0 2.4 12.1

Annual mortality of growing-stock 

trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 269,191.0 3.1 9.5

Annual harvest removals of growingstock trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 539,298.4 5.4 13.9

Annual other removals of growingstock trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 22,931.4 33.0 -56.3

1.5

587,889.2

Forest Land Estimates

Number of live trees > 1-inch 

diameter (million trees)

23,319.7 1.5 7.9

Net volume in live trees > 5-inch 

diameter (1,000,000 ft3

)

664,200.7 1.0 Dry biomass of live trees > 1-inch 

diameter (1,000 tons)

25,474.3

Annual mortality of live trees 

(1,000 ft3

/year) 351,152.0 2.8 25.1

1.2 -0.4

Annual net growth of live trees > 

5-inch diameter (1,000 ft3

/year) 2.5 3.2

Note: When available, sampling errors/bars provided in 

Figures and Tables represent 68 percent confidence 

intervals
Table 2. - Top 10 species by statewide volume estimates 2008

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Figure 4. - Area of forest land by major owner group (2007) and size of family forest landholding, 2006.

B

1 Red maple 3,171.4 2.7 1.5 4,788.1 4.6 0.6

2 Red spruce 3,157.4 3.7 -5.7 8,034.5 4.6 -3.2

3 Eastern white pine 2,680.5 5.3 3.8 9,899.5 5.8 3.2

4 Northern white-cedar 2,188.9 4.8 2.7 4,563.9 5.7 7.8

5 Balsam fir 2,182.3 3.0 0.1 2,600.9 5.3 -9.6

6 Sugar maple 2,083.9 5.4 -5.3 5,673.6 6.8 -6.8

7 Eastern hemlock 1,893.2 5.1 5.1 5,298.1 5.9 10.4

8 Yellow birch 1,619.1 3.9 -0.2 3,852.1 6.0 -0.9

9 Paper birch 1,186.5 4.1 -5.3 1,242.4 7.4 -8.4

10 American beech 922.3 5.6 -14.2 1,204.5 9.2 -22.0

Other softwoods 1,449.7 4.6 3.2 3,233.4 7.4 7.1

Other hardwoods 2,939.1 3.6 1.8 6,208.4 5.3 4.3

All species 25,474.3 1.2 -0.4 56,599.4 1.9 0.4

Rank Species Volume of live 

trees on forest 

land (1,000,000 ft3

)

Change (%) 

since 2003

Volume of 

sawtimber trees 

on timberland 

(1,000,000 bdft)

Change 

since 

2003 (%)

Sampling 

error (%)

Sampling 

error (%)

Private forest land - 92.4 percent of all forest land. 

Public forest land - 7.6 percent of all forest land. 

Other 
Maine Issues Update - 2008 

Over the past few decades there have been concerns about the comparative harvest levels of 

hardwoods and softwoods within Maine’s forests (Jin and Sader 2006). The 1980-1990s saw accelerated 

conifer harvest operations brought on by the need to salvage trees as a result of the spruce budworm 

epidemic (Solomon and Braun1992). This may have been a partial reason for a reduction of softwoods 

found across Maine’s forested landscape. But there are numerous other negative impacts to conifer 

forests that continue, including the shift in timberland ownership, residual effects of the spruce budworm 

epidemic on spruce-fir growth, the localized infestation of the hemlock woolly adelgid, the recently 

detected northern white-cedar dieback, and various seasonal environmental stressors brought on by bad 

weather and wild animals. These impacts have reduced the area of softwood forest types and the related 

net growth of softwoods.

Spruce volumes decreased by 24.8 million ft3 or 18 percent when the 1999-2001 data were 

compared with the combined 2004-2006 data from the latest mid-cycle report on Maine’s forests 2006 

(Laustsen 2009). Balsam fir volume increased less than 1 percent using the same analysis. The shift from 

forest industry ownership to forest land investment firms and other ownership categories reduced the 

overall area of timberland by nearly 100,000 acres between 2003-2007 (Laustsen 2009). The hemlock 

woolly adelgid is projected to decrease the basal area of hemlock forests as much as 45 percent in 

southern Maine (York county) (Maine Forest Service 2007). Northern white-cedar dieback is being 

monitored within Maine. Initial results are showing widely distributed increases in dieback compared to 

the neighboring areas (Randolph 2008). Finally, weather and wild animals in the form of deer, hares, and 

porcupines are negatively impacting 50,000 acres of young conifer stands, annually (Maine Forest 

Service 2007).

As a result of all of these cumulative effects, removals of hardwood growing-stock have approached 

levels of softwood removals (Figure 5). Currently, hardwood forest types account for 61 percent of 

Maine’s timberland acreage (Figure 5). Hardwoods also make up 47 percent of the growing-stock volume. 

Hardwood removals have provided a needed buffer to shortages from reduced softwood removals. 

Hardwood volumes can be increased by improving the quality of hardwood stocking within Maine’s forests 

through silvicultural treatments and by selecting superior form. Even shade-tolerant hardwood species 

respond well to cultural treatments designed to improve growth and form (Webster and Lorimer 2003).

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Figure 5. – A) Percent of timberland area in softwood and hardwood forest types, 2008; B) Average

annual removals for softwood and hardwood growing stock volume, 2006, 2007, 2008; 

C) Percent of growing-stock volume on timberlands for softwood and hardwood species, 2008.
Bechtel, W.A.; Patterson, P.L. 2005. The enhanced forest inventory and analysis program: national sampling design 

and estimation procedures. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-80. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 

Southern Research Station. 85 p.

Smith, W.B. 2002. Forest inventory and analysis: a national inventory and monitoring program, Environmental Pollution. 

116: 233-242.

USDA Forest Service. 2007. Forest Inventory and Analysis National Core Field Guide-Northern Edition, Vol. 1, Field 

Data Collection Procedures for Phase 2 Plots, Version 4.0. Available : www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/field-guidesmethods-proc (verified July, 2007). 

Butler, B.J. 2008. Family forest owners of the United States-2006. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-27. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 72 p.

Gadzik, C.J.; Blanck, J.H.; Caldwell, L.E. 1998. Timber supply outlook for Maine: 1995 - 2045. Augusta, ME: Maine 

Department of Conservation, Maine Forest Service. 39 p.

Jin, S.; Sader, S.A. 2006. Effects of forest ownership and change on forest harvest rates, types and trends in northern Maine. 

Forest Ecology and Management. 228 (1) : 177-186.

Laustsen, K.M. 2009. The 2006 mid-cycle report on inventory and growth of Maine’s forests. Augusta, ME: Maine Department 

of Conservation, Forest Service, Forest Health & Monitoring Division. 30 p.

Maine Forest Service. 2010. Forest and shade tree insect & disease conditions for Maine: A summary of the 2009 situation. 

54 p. Available at http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/documents/FHMSummaryReport2009March2010.pdf

McWilliams, W.H. 2005. The forests of Maine: 2003. Resour. Bull. NE-164. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service. 188 p.

Randolph, K. 2008. Evaluating elevated levels of crown dieback among northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) 

trees in Maine and Michigan. U.S. Forest Service Forest Health Monitoring Program evaluation monitoring project NE-EM-07-

01. Available at: http://fhm.fs.fed.us/em/funded/08/ne_em_07_01.pdf. [July 24, 2008].

Solomon, D.S.; Braun, T.B. 1992. Ten-year impact of spruce budworm on spruce-fir forests of Maine. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE165. Radnor, PA. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 44 p.

Webster, C.R.: Lorimer, C.G. 2003. Comparative growing space efficiency of four tree species in mixed conifer-hardwood 

forests. Forest Ecology and Management. 177(3) : 361-377.

FIA Program Information

Additional Maine Inventory Information

McCaskill, G.L.; McWilliams, W.H.; Butler, B.J.; Meneguzzo, D.M.; Barnett, C.J.; Hansen, M.H. 2010. Maine’s forest 

resources, 2008. Res. Note NRS-53. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern 

Research Station. 4 p.

Citation for this Publication

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Contact Information

Maine Analyst: George McCaskill, (610) 557-4045, georgemccaskill@fs.fed.us

Data Acquisition /web sites: Carol L. Alerich, (610) 557-4068, calerich@fs.fed.us

Website: fiatools.fs.fed.us