Sherman Hollow, where I live, was undoubtedly originally made habitable to humans by beavers. The road now cuts through this valley and along the drainage that runs between steep hills. A series of…

When Richard Winter builds a coffin, he needs a few basic measurements – the occupant’s height, width, and weight – but he also wants to know the person’s name. The process of…

Managing the Legacy Forests at a Birthplace of Conservation At first glance, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock, Vermont, seems like your typical national historic…

Each autumn, deciduous leaves transform the northern forest into a cheerful collage of oranges, reds, yellows, purples, and greens. Yet beneath this fleeting canopy grow longer-lasting and subtler…

Indicator plants are peculiar to a certain place. Though they aren’t necessarily rare, they don’t grow just anywhere. They tolerate only a narrow range of growing conditions, so their…

On a cold and windy Saturday last January, hundreds of people filtered into the cafeteria of Keene High School in southwestern New Hampshire to attend the Monadnock Land Summit. The old guard of New…

I’ve cut a lot of trees since I first picked up a chainsaw 30 years ago. Besides cutting firewood every year, I cleared the site for our road and house when we first moved here. I enjoy the work…

Colorful Dyes from the Forest Silviculture in Vermont’s National Park Bucks and Bulls in Velvet The Beaver’s Felling Techniques Invasive Insects, Plants with a Message, Growing Big Trees,…

Starting with my first magazine subscription (Sports Illustrated, as a 12-year-old) and through many others, including Fly Rod & Reel, Woodwork, and The New Yorker, I have always loved magazines.…

In honor of their 100-year anniversary, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FP&R) recently held a youth writing contest, where school-aged children were asked to imagine, in…

These oddities are draped across a cliff face. What in the woods is this?

A white ash seems nearly invincible. It rises in our forests straight and sturdy, with dense wood and a hearty symmetrical crown. Ash trees become tool handles, baseball bats and, back in the day,…

One of the best parts about having older fishing companions is that trips often double as history lessons. Last weekend one such lesson unfolded on the banks of Somerset Reservoir, a bucolic piece of…

This peculiar, purple object was seen hanging near a campground in the Adirondacks. What is it?

It is summer, but we see glimmers of early autumn now and then – a change in the light, goldenrods and asters blooming, mushrooms of various species emerging and proliferating in fields and…

Research suggests that female wood frogs exercise no choice in their mate; rather, the male frog “chooses” them. “Why then,” Bernd Heinrich asks in his new book, “do male…

Each year the Maplerama event – an excuse for sugarmakers from around the state to get together, talk shop, and get excited about the upcoming season. The buzz at this year’s banquet was…

This mushroom seems to ooze out of a dead maple in Corinth, Vermont. What is it?

Amanda Priestley is on the hunt for a tree killer, and she wants your help. Priestley is an outreach specialist with the

When we tout the benefits of country living, safety is often at the top of the list. (“I never lock my doors!”) Break-ins and vandalism are rare – you don’t expect to walk out…