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48 North American Natural Resources: Timber and Forest Products
Forests of the Past
Some of the best clues about what the forests of North America looked like
hundreds of years ago come from descriptions written by early European settlers.
This historical record sometimes provides clues about the conditions of the soils,
Early Writings
Not all of the early European explorers were specific about their observations
of the forests in North America. For example, when Giovanni da Verrazano
visited the coast of Maine in 1524, he noted, “nothing extraordinary except
vast forests.”
In 1796, another European who came to North America commented that
“the most striking feature is an almost universal forest, starting at the Atlantic
and thickening and enlarging to the heart of the country.” He said that he
“scarcely passed, for three miles together through a tract of unwooded or
cleared land.”
Mount Bigelow, West Peak, Maine.