Causes of Deforestation: The Maine Case

Many of the world's forests are being destroyed at a rapid rate. This article analyzes the decisions of landowners in Maine, where forests have been heavily harvested and much land has been converted to non-forest use. Data on these landowners and their land were obtained from primary and secondary sources, satellite change detection analysis, and structured interviews. We found that there are several different landowner groups making different harvesting decisions in response to different incentives. In northern Maine, deforestation occurred at a rapid rate in the 1970s-1990s due to the activities of paper companies, which were harvesting heavily in the aftermath of a spruce budworm epidemic and which were doing liquidation harvesting preparatory to leaving Maine. In the southern area of the state, deforestation is due primarily to small landowners converting land for development and contractors doing “cut and run” forestry. The Maine case shows that even in a small area, there can be multiple causes for deforestation.