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1,000 Words

Photographer Jim Block photographed this blue-gray gnatcatcher in Lebanon, New Hampshire, as the bird was collecting tent caterpillar silk to use for her nest. While the gnatcatcher is a…

What is Shade Tolerance and Why is it so Important?

Shade tolerance is the relative capacity of tree species to compete for survival under shaded (which is to say, less-than-optimal) conditions. It is a tree trait, a functional adaptation that…

Entomophaga maimaiga

Out-of-control fungi that kill entire populations across a wide geographic area are usually viewed with utter horror: late blight on our garden tomatoes and potatoes and the white-nose…

It’s Time to Reconsider Spring and Summer Bird Feeding

For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed feeding birds around my home. Hours have been spent with Peterson and Sibley close at hand and DeGraaf and Yamasaki’s New England Wildlife…

Editor’s Note

I grew up in a rural Vermont town, the son of a forester and a public school teacher. The Vermont part’s not important, but the rural part is. Stories around the Thanksgiving dinner…

Calendar

From the Center

When I took on the responsibilities as executive director and publisher of The Center for Northern Woodlands Education (our formal moniker), the tangible parts of the organization were laid…

Transformations: Which Caterpillar Becomes Which Butterfly?

The United Nations has coined 2010 to be The International Year of Biodiversity, so it’s only fitting that insects play a starring role in the pages of our summer issue. Insects, after…

When Tapping, Don’t Disregard Red Maple

At a recent meeting of maple producers in New England, I asked the question, “How many people would never tap a red maple?” Half the audience raised their hands. There were a…

A Place in Mind

Working outside on a sunny afternoon in early March, I’ll catch the scent of somethinglike burnt sugar, and it will take me a minute to remember what it is. It will have been a year…

The Outdoor Palette

I like to think of Sarah Knock as a topographer. She records the surface features of water as light purls across it, showing us with amazing verisimilitude the fusion of light and liquid.…

A Fine Woodworker

When Rita and I left the fleshpots of Boston and Cambridge and moved to Temple nearly forty years ago (forty years!), we made that move with the blessing of our friend Molly Gregory. Molly…

Tricks of the Trade

Sharpening an ax is not difficult, but it does require a basic understanding of how the business end of an ax works. An ax is almost never used to cut perpendicularly through wood fibers;…

Pitch Pine, Pinus rigida

In forestry circles, monocultures don’t get high marks. Most planted forests have just one kind of tree, and because of this they are often looked down upon as biological Levittowns:…