CORNISH – The annual meeting of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association
(NHTOA) was held on June 3 at Star Lake Farm in Springfield, N.H. This year the organization
recognized, in addition to their own awards, the recipient of the N.H. Outstanding Tree Farm of
the Year, Colleen O’Neill of Langwood Farm in Cornish and Plainfield.

The N.H. Tree Farm Program has announced that Colleen O’Neill of Cornish has been
named New Hampshire’s Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year for 2023. Owned and stewarded
by O’Neill, her 405-acre Tree Farm, known as Langwood Tree Farm, is part of her 475-acres,
located in Cornish and Plainfield. Her late husband acquired the first parts in the 1970’s and
additions have been made when opportunities arose, most recently in 2022. Langwood Tree
Farm has participated in the N.H. Tree Farm program since 1979 and implements the four
pillars of the Tree Farm program: wood, water, wildlife and recreation. Langwood Tree Farm has
many vernal pools and wetlands that are home for a variety of wildlife that depend on this
habitat. O’Neill has also created clearings under the auspices of the USDA’s Wildlife Habitat
Incentive Program (WHIP), attracting bluebirds, rabbits, deer and moose.

O’Neill’s goals for Langwood Tree Farm include maintenance and expansion of the five miles
of recreational trails, sustainable timber harvesting and improvement, enhancing wildlife habitat,
restoring and maintaining views, protecting water resources, and creating more meadows and
openings. Langwood Tree Farm is open to the public for cross-country skiing, hiking,
snowshoeing, and wildlife observation.

As is required for all Certified Tree Farms, a written forest management plan for Langwood
Tree Farm is in place and is updated regularly with the assistance of her foresters Jeremy Turner
and Mathias Nevins of Meadowsend Consulting Company. With the long-range goal of ensuring
that Langwood Tree Farm remains a working forest forever, O’Neill is actively planning to place
a conservation easement on it with a NH-based land trust. O’Neill is currently a member of the
board of the NH Timberland Owners Association and a member of the Society for the
Protection of NH Forests. She learned about managing her woodlot by seeking advice from and
attending multiple educational workshops, many of which were organized by UNH Cooperative
Extension.

The New Hampshire Tree Farm Program is co-sponsored by the N.H. Division of Forests and
Lands, the Granite State Division of the Society of American Foresters, the Society for the
Protection of N.H. Forests, the N.H. Timberland Owners Association and UNH Cooperative
Extension. It is based on the American Tree Farm System and is operated by volunteers. The
N.H. Tree Farm Program reports that there are more than 1,500 Certified Tree Farms, totaling
more than 500,000 acres, in New Hampshire. For more details about the New Hampshire Tree
Farm Program, visit nhtreefarm.org.

Cutline – Colleen O’Neill of Langwood Farm receives the award for N.H. Outstanding Tree
Farm of the Year at the annual meeting of the N.H.