Forest Cover Declining Across All 6 New England States - Has Been For 20 Years - AP

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BOSTON — After more than 150 years of natural regrowth, forest cover is declining across all six New England states, threatening the region's landscape and chipping away at a natural buffer against global warming, according to a study released Tuesday by Harvard University's laboratory for ecological research.

The study by Harvard Forest found that New England forests, having grown back after a spate of land clearings by European settlers, have come under increasing pressure from a new wave of commercial development, industrial use and invasive species. Less than 20 percent of New England's 33 million acres of trees, waters and wetlands are permanently protected from development.

David Foster, director of the Harvard Forest program, said that the turning point for New England forests came about 20 years ago when the area once again began to lose forest cover. That shift has happened more rapidly in densely populated southern New England states, but even more sparsely populated Vermont and Maine — particularly southern Maine — have seen troubling signs, he said.

"The trend is now downward in all of the states," he said. "There is great pressure on both forest and farm land."

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http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/economy/report-forest-cover-declining-across-new-england-group-urges-new-woodlands-protections-94299714.html

[Deep13]

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