Articles

A forest community is the net result of a wide variety of relationships among and between different organisms interacting in a particular place over time. The key word here is relationships.…

One of the great pleasures of wandering in the undeveloped woodland in our area is finding cellar holes, barn foundations, and all kinds of old fences, and imagining what a particular place…

I was given two CDs for Christmas. The first, by Louis Armstrong, begins with his classic, “What a Wonderful World.” Hearing it makes me know what it means to experience tears of joy. The…

Before the trees leaf out is a great time to walk your property lines, a practice that should be an annual event for all landowners. Locating property boundaries often requires the ability to…

One way to find speckled alder in the spring is to listen for the plaintive fee-beo of the alder flycatcher. Whenever I’ve followed this little bird’s song to its source,…

All through the winter months, we’re treated to the sight of huge flocks of turkeys scratching out a living in our neighbor’s frozen cornfield. Watching 100 or so birds unalarmed at your…

Twenty-five years ago, Sam Doyle of Hanover, New Hampshire, had just met Erhard Frost, a consulting forester from across the river in Thetford, Vermont, who was just beginning his career.…

I know that bucks grunt because, a few Novembers ago, I heard one do it. The sound was both peculiar and somehow unmistakable, residing somewhere in the aural matrix bounded by a Buddhist…

At their best, ski glades are forests with exceptional skiing possibilities. At worst, they are ski trails with damaged and dead trees in the way. They are very different from conventional ski…

Both the Green Mountain National Forest and the White Mountain National Forest are currently updating their 15-year management plans. Wilderness advocates are pushing for more…

In October, I spent two days at the High Point Market in North Carolina. While we in the Northeast have a long history of making furniture, North Carolina is widely recognized as this…

Owning and managing a piece of woodland is, among other things, an act of faith. Landowners sink their fortune in the notion that this place can provide sustenance, enjoyment, and a lasting…

Starting in the early 1970s, the design firm of Leathers and Associates in Ithaca, New York, has been hugely successful designing playgrounds for schools and parks that were built by the local…

This “cedar,” like most of the many other trees given that name, is not a cedar at all. It’s a juniper. And despite having round, blue fruits that look just like berries and not at all…

On a June day in 1986, you could have driven for 50 miles through oak-dominated forests in Pennsylvania and not seen a single leaf, except on a black walnut or tulip tree, which are just about…

Violent windstorms are common in the Northeast, and they often leave behind blown-down trees that need to be removed. But before you charge in with your chainsaw revving, a careful assessment…

The prices reported here are those that log buyers—mostly sawmills and wholesalers—are paying for logs. Because these are prices paid for delivered wood, landowners need to adjust…

I met up with an old acquaintance the other day. His son and mine were friends in school. We’ve been friendly, though not close. Over the years, his family has defined the word…

In 1984, my family and I had the opportunity to spend three days at the International Forest Congress in Quebec City where conditions of the world's forest were being discussed. The…

Two destructive organisms often take their toll on white pine in Vermont. One, the white pine weevil, wrecks the sawlog potential of white pines by killing the leading shoot: when the side…