A place for wildlife, forever

How is this land "protected" and open to loggers at the same time?

Without logging (or fires) you only have forest, which is not the correct environment for most animals. By logging you create habitat for a wider variety of animals than a climax forest can support. You bring in sun to the forest floor to allow growth of a wider variety of plants too. The open space on the farm would be lost without care too. I live on former farmland that now has 60' trees on it and given a chance that would happen.
Normally in nature forest fires clear the land out for renewal but overall I'd prefer logging to fires in terms of safety for the surrounding properites.

It's not just "open to loggers," as if any logger can just show up and start cutting away. The SPNHF will, from time to time, have managed timber cuts to manage the land, preserve open areas, etc. They don't happen all the time, but it's an important part of forest management. If it were allowed to just grow wild, soon it would be difficult for hikers, hunters, etc to use the land. No, I am not a member of SPNHF, but they generally do good work.

I am very disappointed that this is not open to All Terrain Vehicles. I have a heart problem and cannot walk very far, never mind hike. About two years ago, I took up riding an ATV as a way of still getting into the forest but I'm finding that it is hard to find legal places for ATVs. It's just not fair to those of us who are responsible about operating ATVs, especially people with disabilities.

The Forest Society (SPNHF) manages most of its 45,000 acres as "working forest" (25% of the acreage, for various reasons, is set aside as Eco-reserves). In the case of the Washburn Family Forest, we are also working with NH Fish & Game to manage parts of the conserved property for wildlife--by keeping certain fields open, etc., in order to maintain the diversity of habitat that Myah refers to above. If anyone wants to see the Washburn Family Forest, we're running a field trip on Oct. 18. www.forestsociety.org for more info.

With all the greedy developers here in southern New England something like this would never fly. It's good to see that northern New Englanders still care.