Pick your favorite sign of spring: squirrels mating, mud oozing, maples flowering. Mine is a vulture soaring. Change in the air is a naked, ruddy head gliding in on big wings. But more than being a vernal messenger, the turkey…(more)
Inventories often report that forested lands across the U.S. and elsewhere are declining, but those studies simply look at the total deforested area. A new analysis of forests in the lower 48 found that “forest interior” is disappearing at a…(more)
When a stand of trees is blown down in a storm, the typical practice is to salvage as many saleable trees as possible. But a 20- year study in the Harvard Forest found that if you are just considering the…(more)
Not long ago, as the ice went out on my local brook, I came across some fresh beaver cuttings and a scent-mound in an area that showed sign of having been dammed before. Did the fresh sign indicate that beavers…(more)
Like house designers everywhere, James “B’fer” Roth starts with the building site. Though unlike most, it’s not the soil or topography that he studies first. He looks for the right cluster of trees. Roth, 54, is one half of The…(more)
This year, when Moderator Ann Wilson raps her gavel, calling the Craftsbury Town Meeting to order in the new Craftsbury Academy Gymnasium, she’ll be standing on a forest of local trees hewn into a luminous floor. Last September, Craftsbury Academy…(more)
Among the many priorities crowding school budgets, environmental education often gets short shrift. Many educators see the value of bringing more nature into the classroom, but the reality of other costs – from textbooks to health insurance – leaves very…(more)
Sample an assortment of frog songs courtesy of Cornell University while enjoying the vibrant drawings of artist Lauren DiBiccari in this Knots and Bolts article from the Spring 2013 issue of Northern Woodlands magazine.
Managing marginal timberland has always been a challenge, which is why forest landowners are such strong advocates for healthy low-grade…(more)
This flower was recently spotted emerging near our office. What is it?
In the natural world predation is relentless, and evading predators strongly favors the evolution of camouflage colors in animals. How contradictory then, for small, defenseless creatures – like red efts…(more)