WILMOT – The annual meeting of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association (NHTOA) was
held on June 3 at Star Lake Farm in Springfield, N.H. Each year part of the program includes recognizing
noteworthy timberland owners and members of the forest products community. This year’s President’s
Award went to Ann Davis of Wilmot.

Ann Davis was a member of the NHTOA board from 2005 to 2013 and was president of the board
between 2010 and 2012. She was also on the Centennial Committee. Ann, a former journalist, steered
the creation of New Hampshire’s Forests, New Hampshire’s People, the book that celebrated the 100th
anniversary of NHTOA.

When asked why she thought she was being given the President’s Award, Ann said, “I continue to be
active and engaged in the NHTOA. I still serve on the Granite State Woodland Institute’s board and
membership committee, I show up to testify, I write letters, and I’ve been working with [new
development director] Leanne [Morgan].”

Ann and her husband Marc own 500 acres of timberland in Springfield, N.H. called Woods Without Gile
(it is adjacent to John F. Gile Memorial State Forest). “We derive so much pleasure from the landscape,”
she said. “It keeps us fit. And best of all, so many other people use it.”

She and Marc joined NHTOA in 2002, even before they moved to New Hampshire, but as soon as they
bought their woodlot. “There are just so many people in NHTOA that are just so interesting,” Ann said.
But in addition to the interesting membership, she has valued the classes and trainings the organization
offers.

She and Marc were selected as N.H. Tree Farmers of the Year in 2022, which she attributed to what
they’d learned in NHTOA programs. “I’m willing to tell people they ought to be a member,” she said. “I
have strongarmed friends.” Their training has stood them well in the management of Woods Without
Gile too. “In 2002 the timber was assessed at $118,000,” she said. “After management and extraction of
trees that were suppressing growth, it is now worth about $350,000. And that is after four harvests.”
Ann and Marc did land management work when they lived in Illinois too. “It was prairie,” she said, “but
it’s an ecosystem and the principles are very similar.”

Cutline – Ann Davis in a meadow at Woods Without Gile, the tree farm that she and her husband Marc
own in Springfield, N.H.