Until we began working on this issue of the magazine, I had no idea that spotted salamanders are individually distinguishable by their spots. But they are, and what you see below are five photos of just one uniquely spotted – and very fortunate – amphibian. For five consecutive springs in Keene, New Hampshire, members of the “Salamander Brigade” from the Harris Center for Conservation Education scooped up this spottie from a road that separates upland forest from a wetlands breeding site and carried it to safety. Such rescue efforts, performed by groups large and small across the Northeast, are a great way to welcome the new season.
This issue of Northern Woodlands is the first to feature a salamander on the cover in our 29-year history – a woefully un-spotted record, for which we’re making amends with two special features. On our website you’ll find a photo essay assembled by Harris Center Science Director Brett Amy Thelen, with images from rainy spring “Big Nights,” when volunteers escort thousands of salamanders, frogs, and toads across New Hampshire roads.
Also available on our site is a downloadable PDF version of the vernal pool amphibian egg guide that you’ll find on page 10. Supported by the Bailey Charitable Foundation, the guide pairs informative text by conservation biologist Steve Faccio from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE) with illustrations by Nick Bezio, a Vermont-raised artist who is now a biological sciences graduate student at the University of Maryland. (We’ve also tapped Nick to design our 2023 Northern Woodlands sticker, which we’ll introduce later this spring.) I’m particularly excited about the guide, which I know I’ll take with me on my own vernal pool explorations.
There’s another big first in this issue: we’re launching a four-part series on the basics of how forests sequester and store carbon, and climate-friendly forest management practices (see page 44). I hope this new series – supported by the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation – will be helpful to landowners and others who want to manage forestland with the climate in mind. You’ll also see information about the Securing Northeast Forest Carbon Program, an excellent resource for further learning.
Finally, a note about a change in our editorial roster – I want to express profound thanks to editor Cheryl Daigle, who completed her work at Northern Woodlands this past December. Cheryl successfully guided this magazine through the worst period of pandemic disruption, while improving design elements and recruiting new creative contributors to our community of writers, photographers, and artists. We’re so grateful for her leadership at a critical time.