Travelers to AMC's Little Lyford Lodge and Cabins may encounter logging operations along the KI Road at certain times this summer. The thinning of spruce and fir stands there is part of the forest management plan developed by AMC for its 37,000-acre Katahdin Iron Works (KIW) property. The plan's focus is on sustainably harvesting timber in a way that leads, over time, to a more mature, diverse forest.

Formerly industrial forest, today approximately half of the property is in AMC's timber program, supervised by forest management consultant Huber Resources Corporation. The remainder is in a 10,000-acre ecological reserve and other no-harvest zones.

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Learn more about AMC’s sustainable forestry program at outdoors.org/mwi

"A strong emphasis is put on protecting the aesthetic character of the forest and protecting important recreational and ecological resources, including trail corridors, wildlife habitat, wetlands, and water quality," says AMC Forest Ecologist Dave Publicover. Forestry is an important aspect of AMC's Maine Woods Initiative. Timber, a renewable resource, is a key component of the local economy, and wood harvested on the KIW property supplies local mills. Harvest income helps to offset such expenses as property taxes, road maintenance, and general operations, Publicover says.

Publicover and Huber consultants are also focused on integrating the recently acquired 29,500-acre Roach Ponds tract into their planning, collecting new aerial photography, conducting a forest inventory, updating maps, and monitoring the harvest.

Spruce and fir selectively thinned from stands along the KI Road will become lumber and pulpwood. Subsequently, increased light reaching the forest floor will allow other species, particularly hardwoods such as yellow birch and red maple, to take root, "leading to a more naturally diverse stand," says Publicover. Through that harvest, AMC is participating in a University of Maine-based research project designed to enhance understanding of the effects of sprucefir thinning, "so landowners can learn best practices," Publicover says.

Another ongoing learning experience lies in balancing the goals of AMC's timber management with its recreational objectives. "Last year was the first year we harvested north of the Appalachian Trail, and we had to pay much more attention to how we plan harvesting to avoid impacts to recreation," he says.

If visitors encounter logging operations, Publicover advises them to stop and wait for the crew to signal that it's OK to proceed, and to give logging trucks the right of way. Visitors may see another type of crew on the property this summer as well. At press time, a film crew from the Discovery Channel was set to document timber operations on the KIW property for the popular cable television show, American Logger, which stars the Pelletier brothers, Millinocket-based logging contractors hired to harvest AMC's land.