Old Forest

Science gives us the opportunity to explore old growth forests through carbon dating of pollen
grains and the fossilized remains of prehistoric animals. As the climate warmed, predominant tree species were altered over the last 12,000 years as post‐Ice Age spruce, hemlock, fir, birch, pine and alder were infused with oak, chestnut, hickory and beech that migrated north.

Human interaction with the forest has consisted of hunting, agriculture and the formation of
towns and villages. Because of impacts from damaging insects, only remnants of old growth hemlock‐white pine forest remain in the eastern United States.