AUGUSTA — The forestry sector of Maine’s economy appears to be rebounding this year from timber harvesting declines in 2009, based on reports published this week by the Maine Forest Service.

 More wood is being harvested from small to large woodlots this year than last year, Greg Lord, a planning and research associate with the forest service, said  Wednesday.

“The reports are based on notifications that are filed with us every year from people that are going to be doing cutting in the forest on their property,” Lord said.

“And during 2009, there was a decrease in the number of those notifications that came in, so, basically it kind of means there was less activity going on in the forest, and in 2010, we see that those notifications are kind of increasing from 2009.”

Landowner investment in pre-commercial activities designed to increase forest productivity declined 20 percent, from 22,035 acres in 2008 to 17,562 acres in 2009, according to a news release on Monday.

These activities include thinning smaller trees, use of herbicides for site preparation, competition control, and tree planting.

Additionally, harvesting activities during 2009 were much lower than previous years and reflect the economic conditions, forest service officials said.

The total number of acres harvested in 2009 — 394,100 acres — was down 15 percent from the 2008 total of 463,200 acres, while acres clear-cut increased from 10,075 acres in 2008 to 14,866 acres in 2009.

Clear-cutting, which is used as a management tool used to regenerate the forest, still amounts to less than 4 percent of the total harvested acres, the report stated.

Stumpage prices — the value of standing trees to landowners — demonstrated a downward trend.

“Given the economic situation, it’s not surprising that stumpage prices overall were lower in 2009 than previous years,” Donald Mansius, director of Maine Forest Service’s Forest Policy and Management Division, said.

“Maine’s forests contribute several billion dollars to Maine’s economy,” Alec Giffen, MFS director said. “Like other sectors of Maine’s economy, the forestry sector also has seen a downturn.”

In 2009, Lord said that Maine mills, which pay to have wood brought into their facilities, couldn’t afford to pay for the wood to come in due to the economy and this is reflected in the reports.

“Basically they were asking for lower money to bring wood into their facilities and with the cost of fuel for the trucks — people hauling logs in from the woods and loggers running their machines,” that cost wasn’t worth the price being paid by the mills, Lord said.

But that’s just one reason behind the 2009 decline.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into it,” Lord said.

Twenty different factors are listed in the Stumpage Price report, like the average size of trees to be cut, log quality, logging terrain, distance to public roads, the location of the woodlot to the mill itself, etc.

Reports like current stumpage prices and silvicultural activities “help small woodlot owners make decisions on their property,” Lord said.

“We’ve had people call us and wonder what’s the going price for wood,” Lord said. “They’ll have loggers approach them and say, ‘We would like to cut the trees on your property and we can give you X number of dollars for that.’”

He likened the stumpage price report to a kind of “consumer guide type of information to give them a ball mark feel for what the prices are.”

Due to the volatility of stumpage prices, Lord said landowners are advised to contact their local district foresters, because such prices are more of an historical snapshot of what’s happening.

“That’s why we emphasize that to get the real time or as close to real time as possible information to contact their local forester,” he said.

A district forester will walk the land with the landowner, discuss management goals and refer the landowner to a consultant, Mansius said.

“The service is free from the Maine Forest Service,” he added.

The 2009 Silvicultural Activities and Stumpage Price reports mbe found online at www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/index.shtml.

For more information, contact the MFS at 800-367-0223 or email [email protected].

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