In the late 1920s, Franklin and Leslie had a lean-to camp in the Toma country, smack in the middle of nowhere at all, back then. Timber got moved on water in those long decades before the…
Articles
From the Center
As you read this, presses are rolling on our newest publication, More Than a Woodlot: Getting the Most from Your Family Forest. The book is written by Northern Woodlands founder and former…
Ghost Moose: Winter Ticks Take Their Toll
The tracks and splattered blood stains in the snow told the story. Hours before, a cow moose trotted through the deep late-March snowpack and, where she passed, drops of blood, patches of…
The Great Glyphosate Debate
It seems almost quaint, or perhaps naïve, to imagine a time, not too too long ago, when black and white film strips proclaimed the wonders of chemistry and suburban children danced…
Editor’s Note
Silent Spring – the book that forever changed the way the world looks at chemicals – turns 50 this year, and when you’re a writer researching the herbicide glyphosate for a…
Clouds: More Than Meets the Sky
I grew up near the water in Brunswick, Maine, where warm mornings are often shrouded in a thick deck of clouds. On the coastal plain, moist south winds cool as they pass over the chilly…
At Work and at Play in the Northeastern Forest
When I was five, my father purchased the axe that accompanied us through the adventures that defined my boyhood. It was a Hudson Bay camp axe from Snow & Nealley, made in the classic…
1,000 Words
Photographer Zack Clothier used a method called “stacking” to capture this image of the night sky over Coon Pond in the Adirondacks. Twelve images, all taken from a tripod in the…
Are You Gullible or Lariphobic?
The herring gull, one of our most cosmopolitan bird species, thrives in picnic areas or parking lots, at farms or fast-food joints, at sea or in sewage lagoons. The ivory gull, the embodiment…
At Work Rebuilding a Castle with Mark Fenwick
From the trees he harvests, Mark Fenwick sculpts his dreams. At the end of his dirt drive in Guilford, Vermont, a dancing bear, larger than life, poses on one paw, beguiling passersby. Beyond…
Why do Some Spruce Trees Appear Reddish in Winter?
Those reddish spruce needles you see adorning some mountaintop spruce trees are dead, killed by freezing. They are a flagrant indication that the host tree could not stand the weather. Such…
Build a Bat House
White nose syndrome, a fungus that attacks bats while they’re hibernating, has been devastating to bats in the Northeast. (Editor’s Note: See our story “Bats on the Brink,” Spring…
The Laws of Nature Can’t Be Repealed
After a high-water event, there are people who will say that the way to prevent future flooding is to dig out the river channel so it can hold more water and armor plate the banks with riprap.…
The Outdoor Palette
Mark Wiener Spiral 45” x 36” acrylic and sumi ink on vellum, 2008 Mark Wiener keeps the door of his studio open seven hours a day, six days a week. Working in the Chelsea neighborhood of…
Editor’s Note
Logging culture is part of the fabric of rural communities in the Northeast. One might go so far as to say that the logger is a pillar of rural life, in the sense that his trade – like…
From the Center
These are difficult times for families and businesses in our region: for loggers and mill workers, for land trusts and small business owners, for educators and small not-for-profit publishers…
Management Idea: Creating a Permanent Opening
Picture a grassy clearing in the woods, a fox pouncing on a meadow vole, a nest of baby sparrows. Picture a view of distant ridges or a nearby stream. Picture a few kids – maybe your…
The Meaning of Meat: Adult-Onset Hunters Look to the Land for Sustenance
As a teenager, Deborah Perkins found hunting repulsive. During her years at Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine, she wrote a passionate essay arguing that the pursuit was morally wrong.…
Camera Trapping: How to Get the Shot
My good friend, ecologist Jeff Parsons, broke trail through 16 inches of fine, fresh snow. The weather was clear, the temperature hovered in the single digits, and the January sun cast long,…
Getting to Know Bark
As the vibrant colors of fall give way to the more subtle hues of winter, tree bark becomes a focal point in the forested landscape. The splendid contrasts of bark are highlighted by the…