Snow Damage in Young Northern Hardwoods and Rapid Recovery

Snow damage that occurred during 1958 in a 7-year-old stand of paper and yellow birch in New Hampshire was not as disastrous as it originally appeared. Data on the development of the stand since damage occurred—including stand quality, stocking species composition, and sample tree growth—indicates young northern hardwood stands have the capacity to recover rapidly from snow damage and in some cases may benefit from it.