Blog and News

I was in the woods recently with a mycologist and he mentioned that whenever he is out with people looking for mushrooms, the only question anyone ever asks is “Is it edible?” One…

If you’ve done any traveling around New York or New England this summer, you’ve probably come across one of the purple emerald ash borer traps that are hanging from ash trees along…

If your dog roles in poo or roadkill it doesn’t mean that he’s an idiot. Quite the opposite, actually. It means he’s a team player and a good storyteller. In ancient times,…

Northern Woodlands held its annual board meeting on July 20th. The day’s events included a tour of the Mount Tom Forest at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park, a discussion…

Many print-media outlets publish summer book recommendations, and for good reason. Part of the joy of reading is sharing what you’ve read. There’s also a practical component: since…

Riverwalking – the act of hiking up a river or stream in the summertime – holds a special place in the rural ethos. It’s as much a part of summer as 4th of July fireworks, or…

The founders of Northern Woodlands magazine, Stephen Long and Virginia Barlow, were recently honored with the 2011 Vermont’s Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence. Long and…

It can be hard to summon the appropriate motivation to cut firewood in early July. In light of this, I keep a newspaper article taped to the refrigerator that highlights the billion-dollar…

Clouds – big suckers, with glorious mashed-potato tops and ominous sepia-toned bellies – trolled like battleships across Bahamian blue skies Wednesday afternoon. Back on earth,…

Before the Schwarzenegger sex scandal restored order to the media universe, national news coverage had been dominated by images and stories from the Mississippi Delta, where poor, rural…

Editor’s Note: This week’s blog features the musings of founding editor Ginny Barlow. I was on a lovely walk with Chris last fall, just meandering around on a sunny day, crisp leaves,…

Editor’s Note: This week’s blog features the musings of our Executive Director, Walter Medwid. The package of chestnut lumber arrived. Maybe a dozen pieces of various lengths, all in…

Day 2 Life accelerates as we get older, a phenomenon that most of us first notice as school kids, when summer vacations go from endless in elementary school to blink-your-eyes-and-it’s-done…

To be human is to be self-conscious, so it’s only natural that we wonder where we came from. Some people take this to extravagant lengths, forking over hundreds of dollars to get DNA…

I think the title’s a bit too shrill in this news piece about proposed maple syrup standards in Vermont, but I think the piece is well written and the topic is an interesting one.…

The State of Vermont has been holding public hearings on a proposed expansion of the state’s deer and moose hunting seasons this month, and most hunters who’ve attended these meetings have…

By the time you get the spring issue of Northern Woodlands, the magic and majesty of winter will have devolved into miserable weather, an empty propane tank, and the truck buried to its frame…

Growing up, the tree farm that my family managed for timber and maple syrup production had a Christmas tree component – 10,000 little seedlings, mostly white spruce, balsam fir, and…

NPR produced a nice piece recently on New England cottontail restoration efforts in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. You can listen and/or read a transcript here. For those not familiar with this…

Hi all, So things are good up in the mountains. Whereas my opening week last year was colored by an Ahab-like obsession on a 140-class buck, this year has been more peaceful and easy-going,…