Blog and News

One of the ways we try to differentiate ourselves from the traditional environmental media is by looking at things evenly. For example, a press release showed up in my inbox the other day with…

Thanks to everyone at Northern Woodlands for the warm welcome I’ve received as the magazine’s new assistant editor. It’s a personal and professional pleasure to be working…

Environmental scientist Robert Cabin pointed out recently in a story that ran in Earth Island Journal that political liberals in general, and environmentalists in particular, can put an…

There are three weekends of rifle season in Vermont, and as such the season unfolds in acts, like a play. We opened the first act on Friday night, the boys arriving in camp at various times…

One of the hardest parts of writing, or any creative endeavor, is knowing when to crinkle up the paper and start over again. The novelist William Faulkner called this killing your darling.…

We're pleased to announce underwriting support from the Plum Creek Foundation for our popular "Stewardship Stories" article series in Northern Woodlands magazine, starting with…

We spend a lot of time in our magazine pointing out how the past is reflected in nature, sometimes in subtle ways, like a stand of chestnut oak where once there’d been a forest fire,…

Editor’s Note: The story you’re about to read is blunt and unvarnished and more graphic than our usual hunting fare. If you’re sensitive to this sort of thing you might…

We drove up into the mountains shortly after dawn on a late-September morning full of mist and fractured sunlight. While the valleys were still resplendent with color, the mountain peaks were…

A friend and I have been chipping away at hiking Vermont’s Long Trail – a 272-mile footpath that leads from one end of the state to the other – for well over a decade now. We…

I can’t think of many subjects that are harder to write about than forestry, something I’m reminded of whenever I read how-to stories about traditional farming. Crop farmers get to…

My grandfather on my father’s side came from Dutch/German/Irish stock who settled in New York’s Shawangunk Mountains several hundred years ago. If you’ve never been to the…

If summer were a weeklong vacation, mid-August would be Friday afternoon. You’re not packing your bags to come home yet, but there’s an awareness that there’s more behind you…

I went to Wyoming two weeks ago – it was my first visit as an adult. Vague childhood memories of Devil’s Tower and Yellowstone didn’t prepare me for just how different the…

Bella was first to find the old well. A border collie mutt with a heavy coat, she made it her business to sniff out water. On a hot day’s walk, she inserted herself tail first into its…

Northern Woodlands is pleased to announce that the winner of our Orvis HELIOS 2 fly rod and reel raffle is Betty J. Dobson of West Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Congratulations Betty! Thank you to…

I’m holding my daughter up to a jar. It’s a quart jar, initially used for syrup, more recently serving as my improvised coffee-to-go container, and now in its third career as the…

I’ve gotten addicted to the television show “Breaking Bad” over the last few months, watching old episodes back to back on Netflix. At one part in Season 3, Gus, a civilized…

OK, so back to the clearcut. (If you missed Part 1 of the blog, read it here.) By meeting certain silvicultural criteria, and by agreeing to execute the clearcut in a bird-friendly way…

Managing marginal timberland has always been a challenge, which is why forest landowners are such strong advocates for healthy low-grade wood markets. Good timber is valuable – always…