1 From Woodlots to House Lots? A Parcel-level Analysis of Private Forestry in Four

Working forests, or forests managed for timber and fiber resources, serve a number of ecological and cultural functions in addition to providing income and employment through the maintenance of undeveloped landscapes. The heightened pressure to develop rural land has caused the conversion of nearly 4 % of New Hampshire’s forestlands to housing over 15 years, and reduced the economic viability of timber and fiber production across the state. As non-industrial private forests (NIPF) become increasingly important to the sustainability of the forest industry in the northeastern US, it is essential for resource and industry planners to understand what portion of NIPF is managed as working forest, what portion is being developed, and how much of total harvest volumes is being produced by working or developed lands. Similarly, an understanding of the relative importance of parcel-size to determining land-use is key to the assessment of the sustainability of NIPF working forests. NIPF forests of Campton, Thornton, Groton, and Rumney, New Hampshire produce roughly 1 % of total wood harvested in the state, an amount almost proportional to its land area. Although the four towns vary in level o