III. How much Old Growth forest is left in
Massachusetts?
| Not much. Between 250 and 300 ha of old growth
forest has been identified in Massachusetts (DEM, 1992). |
 |
If we are liberal and think on a landscape scale, including some of the
area surrounding the old-growth, we can bring the total to around 900 ha
(R.Leverett, unpublished 1997 data). Total forest cover in the state
is about 1,530,000 ha. This means that only about 0.05% of Massachusetts
forests have been identified as old growth. Although there are probably
more old growth sites in the state, it's doubtful that there are many more,
and none of them are likely to be very large.
However, many forests in the state are getting close to old growth age.
Forests that were abandoned in the mid-1800s, and have not been cut since,
are now about 150 years old. In the next 50-100 years, these forests
should begin attaining old growth characteristics, such as old trees, dead
wood, snags and so on.
The figure below shows you just how little 0.05% of the state's forests
really is.
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