NEFCo PERSONNEL ADDITIONS

New England Forestry Consultants, Inc., is very excited to announce two new additions to the NEFCo staff.

Sean Libbey has been named the new Quabbin Center manager, which covers central and parts of northern Massachusetts.  Sean brings to the company extensive forestry knowledge and expertise in the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  He was a forester for Wadsworth Woodlands in Maine and also studied forestry in British Columbia, Canada.

Raised in Westwood, Massachusetts, Sean earned his B.S. in Biology from Muhlenberg College located in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  In 2000, Sean earned a M.S. in Forestry from the University of Maine, located in Orono, Maine.

Sean will reside in Leverett, Massachusetts, along with his wife, Elizabeth, who is a teacher at a local school.

Christopher Fox has joined the staff of the Monadnock Center in Bennington, New Hampshire.  Chris will be working with Dennis McKenney and Dan Reed and brings with him "dirt forestry" experience as well as GPS and GIS knowledge.  He was a forester for Ferrucci and Walicki, LLC in Connecticut, prior to joining the NEFCo staff.  Having worked as a forest technician and forester in New York, Montana, and California, Chris has gained a wide range of forestry experience.

Raised in the Rochester area, Chris earned a A.A.S. in Forest Technology from the New York Ranger School located in Wanakena, New York, as well as a B.S. in Dual Resource Management - Environmental and Forest Biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry located in Syracuse, New York.  Chris will be residing in Henniker, New Hampshire.

TIMBER MARKET WATCH

Generally, timber prices for most timber species and products are strong.  For example, white pine and spruce/fir markets appear to be extremely good with NEFCo foresters reporting high prices and some even seeing prices higher than ever before.

With sugar maple and black cherry being in high demand, prices for most hardwood species are excellent.  Due to the high prices being paid for sugar maple, red maple prices have also increased as users substitute red maple components that formerly were filled by sugar maple.

Unfortunately, Northern red oak prices have seen a downward trend over the past year, and this trend is not expected to change in the near future.  Consumer preference has changed to the lighter shades of wood for furniture as well as to wider grained wood for furniture and cabinetry.  While prices paid for Northern red oak have decreased over the past year, the current price is still favorable when compared to prices paid five years ago.

The pulp market is wide open to the point where pulp sales are economically feasible and, in some cases, even attractive.  This trend will probably continue due to high home heating costs and future plans for additional wood powered generating plants.

The extremely wet fall will certainly have an impact on timber prices in the coming months.  While a fall "mud season" is expected, this year it came significantly earlier than usual and has lasted much longer than usual.  Mill inventories are relatively low and there is a concern that the ground will not freeze prior to snowfall.  If this occurs, it will make logging conditions very difficult, and site where logging activity is feasible will be at a premium.