But rising real estate prices in York and Cumberland counties have forced the family to move north for its purchases. In the last two years it has bought about 5,000 acres, mostly in Oxford County north of Woodstock. For the Hancocks, the ideal land is a big block of forest filled with straight and tall eastern white pines. The best way to manage a forest for pine is to harvest selectively. Rather than plant new trees, the Hancocks leave some pines so that the forest can regenerate on its own.
Smaller parcels have higher operating costs, and because of that their trees sell for less money.
A survey for the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands found that operating costs increase sharply when parcels are smaller than 50 acres. Between 1983 and 1993, the number of forest parcels smaller than 50 acres increased by 30 percent, according to the Maine Forest Service. The pace has only accelerated in the last five years in southern Maine, said Everett Towle, president of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine. The association is so worried about the trend that it has started its own land trust to preserve land for logging. Once that happens, he said, many landowners will sell off their land, and sprawl will accelerate.