Budding expertise | Longtime forester trades life in the woods for a spell in the capital
Photo/Amber Waterman
Doug Denico steps into his job as Maine's state forester
For his entire adult life, Doug Denico has been at home in the depths of Maine’s forests.
A certified forester, Denico made a career of managing forests for companies including Sappi, International Paper, Scott Paper, S.D. Warren and Plum Creek. Now he finds himself in a different world, where people often complain of not being able to see the forest for the trees — and they aren’t talking about woodlots.
Denico’s new stomping ground is the State House in Augusta, where as Maine’s newest state forester, he carries responsibility for protecting Maine’s 17 million acres of trees. “My goal is to find out what the customer wants and respond to that,” he says, referring to commercial and recreational users.
Of those 17 million acres, 11.2 million are working forests, providing the raw material that fuels paper mills, pellet mills and sawmills, and at the same time providing a basis for the state’s tourism and recreation industries. All told, Maine’s forests contribute $4 billion a year to the state’s GDP, according to the Maine Department of Conservation, which houses the Maine Forest Service.
Denico understands the business side of forests well. Three years ago, he retired from managing Plum Creek’s forests, the final gig in a career that encompassed every component of managing forestlands from harvesting to cultivation. A resident of Vassalboro, Denico, 67, found he was “a little bored” with retirement, despite having his own 1,300 acres of working forests to maintain. When he heard about the opening at Maine Forest Service, he dusted off his resume and applied.
“MFS has a tremendous mission, and I’ve always really respected the people and the work they do,” he says. “It’s such a unique position because you’re dealing with the whole state and its forests on all fronts.”
He believes in Gov. Paul LePage and Department of Conservation Commissioner Bill Beardsley’s goal to create jobs connected to forest resources, whether through industrial uses, eco-tourism or forest-based recreation. Denico’s objectives include looking at streamlining regulations and reaching out to landowners to educate them around sound forest management and conservation practices.
One of the MFS’s most essential roles is maintaining an inventory of Maine’s forests: how many and what species grow where. The department typically surveys 3,000 plots a year across the state with a team of 12 foresters to quantify the forests and gauge their health. It’s especially important since invasive species such as the hemlock woolly adelgid and emerald ash borer can devastate woodlands. Starting in the mid-1970s and continuing through the late ‘80s, the spruce budworm killed between 20 million and 25 million cords of spruce and fir.
“The spruce budworm epidemic will come back,” says Denico, noting staff are trying to analyze when that might occur and devise a plan to combat it. “It was a massive economic problem in Maine, and we don’t want that to happen again.”
Another thing Denico wants to protect: Maine’s tree growth tax exemption. The law allows working forests to be taxed at a lower rate than non-working forests, creating an economic incentive to keep forests healthy and well-managed. More than 11 million acres of forest qualify for tree growth exemptions. “In my view, the tree growth tax exemption is the best conservation policy that’s ever been in this state,” he says. “We’re taxing landowners at a rate where they can continue growing trees, not [cut them down] for buildings. It’s a financial necessity. If I had to pay [full] taxes on my land, I couldn’t afford to keep it.”
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