In message , Way Back Jack
writes
I hear what you're saying about trees being cut down in the distant
past for ships but trees should have started again "naturally." The
travelogues do not show farming or livestock activity that would
prevent this from happening. Look e.g., at the British series, "Last
Of The Summer Wine" from Yorkshire.

I'm confused as to why you would take the fictional series "Last of the
Summer Wine" as a guide. However the fields in the area it was filmed in
are grazed by sheep.

In 1972, I bought a (mid-Atlantic) cow pasture and let a 3-acre chunk
of it "go natural." It's a veritable forest today with some of the
faster-growing species 60-90 ft. tall, e.g.,tulip tree, black cherry,
black walnut, Norway maple, and red oak varieties. Eastern white
pines were separated and planted elsewhere and they too are 60-90'.
Even Bartlett pears started from seed are 40 ft.

In the British uplands grazing by sheep and deer prevents regeneration
of forest. Where grazers have been excluded (e.g. Coire Ardair,
Abernethy Forest) regeneration is occurring.

In the lowlands the great majority of fertile land is used for
agriculture.

(Forest growth may well be slower in Britain; it's a lot further north
than the mid-Atlantic states - remember it's at the latitude of
Labrador.)
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley