Table 1. – Annual estimates, uncertainty, and change

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

Figure 2. – Area of forest land area by top four forest 

types and stand size class, 2007-2011.

Maine’s Forest Resources, 2011 Research Note NRS-143

This publication provides an overview of forest resource 

attributes for Maine based on an annual inventory 

conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) 

program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. 

Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted 

core tables, will be updated annually. For more 

information please refer to page 4 of this report.

1

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

year.

Note: When available, sampling errors/bars provided in figures 

and tables represent 68 percent confidence interval. Change in 

growth estimates are compared to 2004-2006 cycle.

Estimate 

(2011)

Sampling 

error (%)

Change (%) 

since 2006

Area (1,000 acres) 17,660 0.4 -0.2

Annual harvest removals of live trees 

> 5-inch diameter (1,000 ft3

/year) 646,164 5.0 6.8

Annual other removals of live trees > 

5-inch diameter (1,000 ft3

/year) 6,359 52.2 177.4

Timberland Estimates

Area (1,000 acres) 17,192 0.5 0.3

Number of live trees > 1-inch 

diameter (million trees) 23,542 1.6 6.7

Biomass of live trees > 1-inch 

diameter (1,000 tons) 661,090 1.0 3.0

Net volume of live trees > 5-inch 

diameter (1,000,000 ft3

) 25,152 1.2 1.4

Net volume of growing-stock trees 

(1,000,000 ft3

) 23,631 1.3 2.0

Annual net growth of growing-stock 

trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 699,334 2.5 34.7

Annual mortality of growing-stock 

trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 236,630 3.3 -18.0

Annual harvest removals of growingstock trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 571,514 5.1 8.2

Annual other removals of growingstock trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 13,944 39.4 -55.3

2.3

2.3

0.7

-16.1

28.5

1.2

1.0

3.0

Net volume in live trees > 5-inch 

diameter (1,000,000 ft3

)

Annual net growth of live trees > 

5-inch diameter (1,000 ft3

/year)

Annual mortality of live trees > 

5-inch diameter (1,000 ft3

/year)

699,630

314,775

25,757

Dry biomass of live trees > 1-inch 

diameter (1,000 tons) 676,314

Forest Land Estimates

Number of live trees > 1-inch 

diameter (million trees)

24,115 1.5 6.3
Table 2. – Top 10 tree species by statewide volume estimates, Maine 2007-2011

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1 Red maple 3,222 2.8 3.4 4,902 4.9 5.5

2 Red spruce 3,047 3.7 -6.3 7,837 4.7 -4.4

3 Eastern white pine 2,807 5.2 6.1 10,556 5.8 9.1

4 Balsam fir 2,308 2.9 5.6 2,637 5.1 -3.6

5 Northern white-cedar 2,236 4.8 2.9 4,825 5.7 8.5

6 Sugar maple 2,036 5.4 -6.9 5,640 7.1 -6.1

7 Eastern hemlock 1,987 5.0 7.9 5,731 5.8 13.6

8 Yellow birch 1,622 3.9 -1.0 3,757 6.1 -3.6

9 Paper birch 1,134 4.2 -6.7 1,157 7.6 -10.3

10 American beech 886 5.6 -8.5 1,066 9.8 -18.0

Other softwoods 1,452 5.6 1.4 3,320 7.2 5.2

Other hardwoods 3,019 3.5 3.9 6,684 5.2 11.4

All species 25,757 1.2 0.7 58,112 1.9 3.0

Change 

since 

2006 

(%)

Sampling 

error (%)

Sampling 

error (%)

Rank Species Volume of live 

trees on forest 

land (1,000,000 ft3

)

Change 

since 

2006 

(%)

Volume of 

sawtimber trees 

on timberland 

(1,000,000 bdft)

Maine Issues Update - Trends

Maine’s forests have evolved over the last 30 years since the last spruce budworm epidemic. During that time 

period (1982 to 2011) red spruce volumes have continued to decrease while balsam fir volumes have stabilized. 

Red maple, white pine, northern white-cedar, and eastern hemlock volumes have increased from their 1982 

lows, while aspen and paper (white) birch have declined. 

Figure 4. – Top 12 species by growing-stock volume (million ft3) 1982 – 2011 (Laustsen 2012).
Continued from Page 2

To have a complete picture of change, it is beneficial to compare “all live” volumes with board-foot (sawtimber) 

estimates. All live volume represents the net merchantable volume of all trees, 5.0+ inches d.b.h., while sawtimber 

volume has a minimum d.b.h. of 9.0 or 11.0 respectively for softwood and hardwood species and tougher quality 

standards. Red maple volumes have increased slightly in both all live and sawtimber since 2003. In contrast, 

balsam fir live volume has increased by 6 percent or 129 million ft3 during the same period, but not in the 

sawtimber-sized trees (- 9 percent). The hemlock woolly adelgid is projected to decrease the basal area of 

hemlock forests as much as 45 percent in southern Maine (Maine Forest Service 2012). But between 2003 and 

2011, statewide hemlock volumes have increased almost 190 million ft3 or 10 percent, including a 20 percent gain 

in sawtimber. Finally, beech trees have lost 20 percent of their cubic foot volume for the 2003-2011 time period, 

including a 45 percent loss in board-foot volumes (Morin et al. 2007). 

Figure 5. – Species by all live (million ft3) and sawtimber (million b.f.) volumes 2003-2011. Comparison is 

between the level of increase or decrease between all live and sawtimber (bf) volumes.

3
Bechtold, W.A.; Patterson, P.L., eds. 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.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 2010. Forest Inventory and Analysis national core field

guide: field data collection procedures for phase 2 plots. Version 5.0. Unpublished information on file at

http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/fia/data-collection/ (verified May 21, 2012). 

McCaskill, G.L.; McWilliams, W.H.; Butler, B.J.; Morin, R.S.; Moser, W.K.; et al. 2011. Maine’s Forests 2008. 

Res. Bull. NRS-48 Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research 

Station. 62 p.

Laustsen, K.M. 2012. Personal communication. Maine Forest Service, 22 State House Station,

Augusta, ME. 

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

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

McWilliams, W.H.; Butler, B.J.; Griffith, D.M.; Laustsen, K.M.; Caldwell, L.E.; et al. 2005. The Forests of 

Maine: 2003. Res. Bull. NE-164. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 

Northeastern Research Station. 188 p.

FIA Program Information

Additional Maine Inventory Information

McCaskill, G.L.; McWilliams, W.H. 2012. Maine’s forest resources, 2011. Res. Note. NRS-143. Newtown 

Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.

Citation for this Publication

4

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, 

color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, 

sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived 

from any public assistance program (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require 

alternate means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s 

TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of 

Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800)795-3272 (voice) or (202)720-

6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Contact Information

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

Data processing/ access: Charles J. Barnett (610) 557-4031, cjbarnett@fs.fed.us

Estimates, tabular data, and maps from this report may be generated at: fiatools.fs.fed.us

Additional Information

Morin, R.S.; Liebhold, A.M.; Tobin, P.C.; Gottschalk, K.W.; Luzader, E. 2007. Spread of beech bark disease 

in the eastern United States and its relationship to regional forest composition. Newtown Square, PA. 

Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 37: 726-736.

Maine Forest Service. 2012. Forest and shade tree insect & disease conditions for Maine: A summary of 

the 2011 situation. 65 p. http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/documents/SummaryReport2011.pdf