2024 Wells Road Timber Harvest
ACT’s Commitment to Community and Forest Health
Franconia New Hampshire is home to rich forests filled with important plant and animal species, incredible recreational trails, and abundant biodiversity. Recent intense wind events have altered some of these vital landscapes uprooting trees, creating hazards, and blocking recreational trails. Last winter, the mature pine forests lining Wells Road, located near Cannon Mountain and Route 116, were heavily impacted by a series of windy winter storms. This stretch of road is home to two of ACT’s properties, mountain bike trails managed by FA-NEMBA, and many residential homes. This summer, the Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust (ACT) is conducting a timber harvest to help clear some of the blocked trails and the scenic road frontage and to encourage a more resilient, diverse, and healthy future forest.
Our hope is to work within the forest’s natural processes to encourage a future forest with a greater variety of tree species and a more diverse structure. Before the trails and houses, Wells Road was once lined by open farm fields, primarily pastures. When the grazing and farming ceased, these fields seeded into mostly white pine, eventually growing into the mature pine forests we see—or saw—lining Wells Road. One important feature of these forests is that most of the trees are similar in age. While incredibly scenic, these mature but mostly even-aged pine forests are prone to wind damage. Outside of the post-agricultural setting, New Hampshire’s soils, natural disturbances, and climate favor forests of mixed species and ages. Along Wells Road, this is evident in the forest midstory. Growing under the mature canopy of pine, is a mixed midstory of maple, birch, beech, fir, spruce, and the occasional pine. As ACT removes some of the fallen and damaged mature pine, the goal is to work within the forest’s natural processes, retain and release the existing mixed midstory, and encourage a future forest with a more resilient, and diverse composition and structure. Even prior to the windstorms, this was one of ACT’s management goals for these properties.
ACT anticipates the logging and cleanup process will begin in early June. Long View Forest, a logging and forestland contractor, will be working with ACT to help remove the fallen, hazardous, and damaged trees; prep a small driveway and staging area; and advance our long-term goals for a resilient and healthy forest. Their work will focus mostly on the Wells Road Trail Access and Grote Wildlife Sanctuary Property. Perhaps the silver lining in all this damage, once the clean-up operation is complete, the driveway and staging area will be turned into a small parking area and trailhead for the mountain bikers, hikers, and other recreationalists who enjoy these trails, ACT’s primary vision for the property. The contractor anticipates being onsite cutting and running equipment for three to five weeks yet cautions that it has the potential to take longer as the harvesting operation is weather dependent.
We are cognizant and want to be respectful of our neighbors and the site’s other natural resources, one of the reasons we selected Long View Forest as a contractor. Their cut-to-length and forwarder operation is comparatively quiet and low impact. While logging this location is a one-time occurrence for ACT, the impact and benefit will be seen for years. Certianly downed trees and limbs will be visible on the site. ACT is not trying to clean up all the down trees and some down trees and limbs will be intentionally left on the forest floor for the benefit of wildlife and soil.
While most of this work will occur on the ACT properties, ACT has been communicating with abutting landowners, FA-NEMBA, and the town of Franconia, all of whom are working and adapting with us. The trails which run through this section of land will be detoured during the week while the logging operation is happening, with our hope of having them opened for weekend use. Recreation along Wells Road is extremely important; we understand this and thank you for your understanding while we work to make the area safe to recreate in again. Additionally, the town of Franconia will be working along this area of road late summer to increase the safety of the line-of-site and create better snow removal areas.
On June 29th ACT will host a walk-through of the property, conducted by our Conservation Ecologist and Land Manager, who will thoroughly explain the timber harvest process, discuss its benefits, and answer any questions you may have. In the meantime, please visit our website act-nh.org to register for the event and learn about trail updates and closures or call our office at (603) 823-7777 if you have questions. We are excited to begin this process to help the natural landscape along Wells Road become healthy once again.
