Demographic change in the northern forest

The Northern Forest spans more than 26 million acres across Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. With densely settled urban cores, sprawling suburbs, struggling industrial and forest products towns, fast growing recreational areas, and isolated rural villages, the region includes many of the diverse strands that together compose the demographic fabric of the nation. Population and housing growth between 2000 and 2010 in this long-settled region has been modest, but there is considerable internal variation, with some places growing rapidly while nearby communities diminish. Because it is a place where people and forests are intermixed, demographic change in the Northern Forest will have significant implications for the region's forests and other natural resources. The future of the Northern Forest and the communities embedded in it depends on the ability to anticipate change and respond appropriately.