The Pierces - Maine

As the trees of their Tree Farm have roots deep in the soil of Baldwin, Maine, so, too, do Josiah and Kathy Pierce. The 2007 National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year, they are stewards of more than 2,000 acres, much of that under a written forest management plan and worked as a certified Tree Farm for nearly a half century.

Jo and Kathy, who have owned the land for 20 years, stand in the middle of a long line of owners of the land. Jo’s great-great-great-grandfather built his home on the farm in 1785. The town area of Baldwin, at that time called Flintstown, served as the Maine headquarters for the firm Baldwin & Pierce, which had several sawmills in Maine. The family has been in and out of the sawmill business since those early beginnings.

In addition to the inherited land, Jo and Kathy began to acquire and manage additional woodlots. They worked diligently to expand their ownership, which now includes 2,000 acres of managed Tree Farm forest. The family-owned parcels have been under simple management plans since the 1960s. However, Jo initiated more comprehensive management plans in the late 1980s, closely documenting the goals and activities of the respective parcels. As a rule, each plan is revisited on a 10-year basis or sooner. The decision to more closely monitor and document management activities has given Jo and Kathy the opportunity to react more quickly and appropriately to everchanging conditions in the forests.

Jo and Kathy share the following tips: 

1. Learn your native trees by leaf and bark.

2. Walk your property lines every year.

3. Treat your land well. Remember the land will be around long after we are gone.

4. Make it a point to walk out into the woods once in a while just to look at how beautiful it is.

5. Share your woods with others. It will increase your own enjoyment, and you just might learn something.

6. Use products from your Tree Farm.

7. Make sure some other family member knows your property lines.

8. Take your family out in the woods to have fun. Make it a destination point. Have a picnic.

9. Ask advice from other landowners. We all love our woods and others may have good ideas that we could put into practice.

10. Get to know your forester.