We harvested about 30 acres of fir 2 years ago, we have replanted 8500 2 year old Doug fir babies. We are in the midst of a 5 year drought now in the west coast, many of our fir are dying, they just loose all their green and become big 80 foot stick trees. It is horrible, never seen it before, I am in my sixties. The baby trees need way less water, still supplementing some of them till they get through another year.
Our softwood trees are mostly White Pine and Eastern Hemlock around her in southern NH. The spruces and balsam fir are mostly in ME , northern NH up into Quebec and New Brunswick. They are higher elevation species.
The main hardwood trees are the oaks, maples and birches. The maples varieties are what gives New England the bright fall foliage colors of leaves that turn red, yellow and orange.
We do not have extended droughts here in New England like you do out west. This year we had more rain in July than any previous year. A couple years back we had the driest July in years. However, it never lasts more than a few months.
FYI, I have a degree in Wood Products Engineering. I have been a professional lumber trader for 33 years. I buy and sell Douglas Fir from mills like Weyerhaeuser, Seneca, Rosboro, Hampton, Interfor and Frank Lumber that are right in your back yard.