Blog and News

As Charles W. Johnson began in our April 20, 2009

Our first showy tree blossoms of spring are popping out all around us now. Alternatively known as shadbush or serviceberry, assorted varieties of Amelanchier are dressing up the edges of roads…

While experienced foragers can make gourmet meals out of any number of wild plants – from cattail roots to stinging nettle leaves – most amateurs focus on three plants: morel…

Blake Thomsen, a licensed land surveyor from Chelsea, Vermont, contacted the magazine with a request that we run a small blurb explaining to landowners why they might see a surveyor wandering…

It was Sunday morning, last Sunday morning, and dawn was just breaking in fishing camp. First there were birds singing in complete darkness: prophets? Cheerleaders? Either way the birds seemed…

Maple Sunday—March 29—was the last day of our maple sugaring season. The sap’s still running but the sugar content has dropped to the point where the remaining firewood in the woodshed…

On a recent trip to East Africa I was swept off my feet by the baobob tree, as has happened to many other travelers. How can a long-lived, successful tree be so entirely unlike all the other…

I came across a recent story in The Oregonian (“Fall in wood products market redirects environmentalist strategy,” by Michael Milstein, December 20, 2008) talking about the changing…

The 2009 season began in earnest last Friday. We had a small run in our southern Vermont sugarbush – enough to make the first syrup of the year. The beginning of the year is always the…

As far as I can tell, there is no cell phone reception anywhere in the Town of Corinth. Consequently, in the office and at home, we continue to use a land line for nearly everything. My wife…

In early summer, our main sugarbush is a lush, earthy place. Limestone knolls roll into soggy spring-fed depressions. Two-hundred year old maples loom – their hard, vertical shapes…

I don’t know anyone who knows the names of 18 kinds of snow, which, as legend has it, any Inuit can easily reel off at an early age. But by last April, everyone I know had at least 18 words…

Deputy Director The Center for Northern Woodlands Education seeks an experienced and talented full-time Deputy Director (DD) to work closely with the Executive Director (ED) and the Board of…

The State of Vermont instituted new baitfish regulations in April 2008 to prevent the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) to Vermont. Ice fisherman should be aware of these…

When I was very young I used to scare the heck out of myself by getting lost in the woods near where we lived. Instead of going to scary movies, like some kids, I’d head off again and…

Over the years in Northern Woodlands, we have revisited the subject of “selective cutting.” When loggers advertise their services, they often use the phrase, selective harvesting or…

While browsing a newspaper recently, I was encouraged to read the headline: “State moves to regulate ‘captive hunting.’” It detailed the fact that after 10 years of debate, the Vermont…

Happy New Year from Northern Woodlands!

A non-profit group in the Adirondacks, the Adirondack Council, is making it possible for ordinary folks to do something proactive about global warming. For a minimum of $25, you can purchase a…

Our Autumn 2008 issue features a beautiful photo essay on our forest friends building their food reserves for winter called “Harvesting in a Time of Plenty”. Our website now boasts a…