The Thain Family Forest is an old-growth forest that has survived for thousands of years, even though nearly all of the historic woodland that once covered much of New York City was cleared for farms and settlements beginning in the 17th century. Today less than one percent of the woodland in the northeastern United States is considered old growth. Although old-growth forests are subject to natural and human disturbances, they are generally resilient. Signs of this forest's age include many distinguished old trees, some more than 200 years old, growing alongside young and middle-aged specimens in what forestry terms define as a mixed-aged forest stand. Trees of great age can be identified by large trunks, generally more than 30 inches in diameter, shaggy or peeling bark, and buttressed roots, which are exposed roots that project from the trunk and help keep the tree upright. As older trees die or are blown over in storms, gaps open in the canopy that allow other trees to grow. The Thain Family Forest is part of the Old-Growth Forest Network, whose forests will remain protected from logging and open to the public.
