New Hampshire forests have had an amazing comeback since the 1800s, when settlers largely cleared the land for farming and sheep grazing.

Jack Savage, president of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, spoke at the first Jaffrey Amos Fortune Forum of the season on Friday evening about the state of New Hampshire’s forests, conservation efforts and where he’d like to see the state in the next 15 years.

In his talk, “Are New Hampshire Forests Threatened?” Savage discussed the revitalization of New Hampshire forests and where he would like to see the state in the next 15 years.

The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is celebrating an important milestone this year: its 125th anniversary. Savage, who has been part of the organization for 25 years and served as its president for seven, said the Society has been involved in advocating for legislation to protect natural spaces and helping to preserve land, including Gap Mountain and Mount Monadnock.

“Our story is a story of people who made a difference,” Savage said.

Though the number may be apocryphal, Savage said it is estimated that in the mid-1800s, at the height of the sheep boom in New Hampshire, the state had been reduced to about 25% forested.

“It seemed inexhaustible,” Savage said, referring to New Hampshire forests. “But we took it.”

It wasn’t without consequences, Savage said, with floods and droughts worsening by the 1900s. But as better, less rocky and already open farmland opened up as the country moved West, farming fell out of fashion, and those cleared lands were allowed to grow back in.

At its height in recent memory, New Hampshire reached 87% forested in 1960. Currently, the state is about 82% forested. That drop is attributed mostly to cutting for development, Savage said. He said that’s not inherently a bad thing — people need places to live and work. He said the challenge now for those with an eye for conservation is to look at what the state has left, weigh conservation quality and determine what land is best to protect versus what’s suitable for development.

Savage said the Society is not against the harvesting of timber, noting that careful management of forests can allow for greater biodiversity by creating varying habitats and allowing both hardwood and softwood trees to grow.

“As humans, we can improve the forest,” Savage said. While some of the Society’s protected land is preserved as “forever wild,” other parcels are managed, including for timber harvesting.

Protecting New Hampshire’s iconic places, such as its mountains, has the double benefit of protecting the state’s tourist economy.

Currently, about 34% of the state’s land is protected in some capacity. Savage said that’s a solid number — already exceeding the global “30 by 30” initiative, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s land, inland water, and coastal and marine areas by 2030.

“New Hampshire is already there,” Savage said.

Savage said the Society’s goal is to have 40% of the state in conservation by 2040, which he said is an ambitious goal based on previous rates of conservation, and would represent an additional 30,000 acres in conservation over the next 15 years.

“If we don’t value it, we will lose it,” Savage said.

This week’s Amos Fortune Forum will feature Carol Greenwald on “Aardvarks, Monkeys and Talking Dogs: Lessons From a Career in Children’s Media.” All Amos Fortune Forum lectures are held on Friday nights at 7 p.m. at the Jaffrey Meetinghouse. Note that the time has changed from previous years.