What does Huber Resources do?
Huber Resources Corporation (HRC) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of J.M. Huber Corporation. HRC manages timberlands for the Huber family and several other clients in Maine, and in other states..

When I travel on Huber-managed lands, what rules and regulations apply?
Huber-managed lands are usually open to the public for recreational purposes. Exceptions may include newly-constructed roads, special wildlife habitat areas, and other areas governed by State or Federal regulations. All-Terrain-Vehicles are prohibited on HRC's lands. Snowmobiles are permitted, on state-sanctioned snowmobile trails only. Unauthorized tree-cutting is prohibited. Camp fires and camping must follow Maine Forest Service regulations at designated campsites. Bear-baiting is administered through the North Maine Woods company. Hunting is not allowed within one-half mile of an active logging operation (signs are usually posted). Vehicles traveling on Huber's private roads should use caution when meeting or approaching log trucks or logging operations. (Please see Sportsman Information page for more details).

What does HRC do to manage land?
HRC protects and enhances the natural life cycles of the lands they manage by protecting them from fire, epidemic tree diseases, and injurious insect infestations. HRC, and their staff of professional foresters and wildlife biologists plan and implement harvests of forest products by following the highest standards of sustainable forestry.

What is sustainable forestry?
Sustainable forestry means managing forests so that natural products are harvested in a way that does not compromise the needs of future generations. HRC does this by understanding the natural life cycles of the forest and its wildlife, and developing plans to harvest trees in a way that assures the natural regeneration of new seedlings. This is done in a way that protects water quality, soil conservation, and public values.

How does HRC harvest trees?
HRC's professional foresters continually assess the health and productivity of the forests they are responsible for; then develop long-range plans to harvest forest products in a way that maintains or enhances that health and productivity.
HRC then contracts with local professional logging contractors to harvest those products in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner. HRC's foresters decide where the harvest will be, then prepare a harvest prescription for a logging operation that will be conducted to meet Huber's objectives. The area's perimeter is flagged and all brooks, vernal pools, special wildlife habitat, and other environmentally-sensitive areas are marked and appropriate protective measures are taken to safeguard water quality and wildlife habitat. Sometimes, trees are marked with paint to identify those the forester wants to be left to grow.
Then, contractors use mechanical harvesters to cut selected trees according to the harvest prescription. The trees are delimbed and skidded or yarded to the side of the logging road. They are sorted and prepared for the different wood-using mills according to species and quality. Log trucks are then loaded so that the forest products may be transported to various markets.
Generally, the logging operations you may see on Huber-managed lands are following the Shelterwood method of silviculture.

What is silviculture?
Silviculture is the art and science of growing the healthiest and most-valuable trees. Licensed professional foresters use state-of-the-art techniques to assure that our forests produce valuable natural products while protecting its ability to support clean water, wildlife habitat, and future forests.

What is the Shelterwood System?
Huber foresters usually follow the Shelterwood System to manage forests in Maine. Most often, this silvicultural system is applied to a forest in two or more stages.
When a forest matures, the tree's canopies or crowns crowd together as the trees grow to maturity. This effectively shuts out the sun from the forest floor, at least during the growing season. When a forester encounters this condition, he or she usually prescribes a Shelterwood Establishment harvest to open up the canopy so that sunlight can reach the forest floor. In Maine, that's all that's needed to stimulate the natural regeneration of new tree seedlings. Depending upon the quality of the trees in the forest, the harvest prescription will identify the healthiest and most valuable trees to leave for superior seed production. The lower-quality and smaller trees are then harvested from around the crop trees. This usually leaves a well-spaced stand of large trees to start the Shelterwood. The spacing between those trees that are left to grow and throw seed varies according to the species, soil conditions, and size of the trees in the original stand.
Once a Shelterwood is established, the overstory, or large trees that are left to grow, is monitored for from seven to 15 years. Depending upon site conditions, seeds from those trees will germinate and produce new tree seedlings that are of superior genetic stock. These new seedlings will restock the spaces left from the original harvest, "sheltered" by the larger trees left around them.
The forester monitors their progress, and when the regeneration is uniformly distributed and well-advanced, a second-entry or overstory removal harvest is planned. Depending upon the health and age of the trees in the overstory, some or all of those trees are then harvested. This is done in a way that protects the new seedlings growing in the understory from damage during the harvest. These seedlings are now "released" to absorb more sunlight and nutrients so that they can grow faster.
Later, the forester may prescribe a thinning treatment, either precommercially, when they are not large enough to be merchantable, or when the new forest reaches pole-size. After a period of time, this established forest will be ready for another establishment harvest.
This Shelterwood system effectively produces a vigorous, valuable forest that may perpetually produce trees, clean air and water, as well as a home to wildlife. Depending upon the soils and site conditions, this natural process can produce a complete cycle or rotation in about 60 years. Harvests can take place every 15 to 25 years, indefinitely, on the better sites.

Does Huber clearcut?
Clearcutting is a silvicultural practice that harvests all or most of the trees in a forest all at once. This is done when the trees growing there are diseased or overmature. HRC does not use this method very often, and then only when the Shelterwood System is inappropriate for the conditions found in that forest.

Does Huber plant trees after they harvest?
HRC does not usually plant new seedlings in Maine forests. This is because the fertile soils develop an excellent seedbed for natural regeneration. Because of Maine's glacially-derived soils and the climate, sunlight is all that's usually needed to get new trees to resprout after a harvest. HRC foresters can influence the type and quality of that regeneration, however, by carefully planning to leave quality seed trees in the overstory. This is why the Shelterwood System of silviculture is most often employed on Huber's managed forests.