There’s no shortage of studies about the effects of timber harvesting on amphibians. And there’s not much discrepancy between studies: generally, the heavier the cut, the fewer frogs,…

When a plant or animal is moved from its native homeland to a new territory, and it thrives to the detriment of native plants and animals in that territory, it’s known as an invasive species.…

The poet Ogden Nash put it succinctly: “God in His wisdom / Made the fly / And then forgot / To tell us why.” True, it’s blackfly season, which is perhaps not the best time of year…

I live something of a double life: member of the Northern Woodlands team by day and owner/operator of an organic vegetable farm by night. (Time-wise, it’s actually the other way around.) …

The fleeting interval between late-April and mid-May, after the snow has melted yet before the canopy of leaves overhead is fully deployed, is when many of our native woodland flowers,…

Horsetails and scouring rushes are among the commonest plants around, especially noticeable early in spring when the evergreen species among this group stand out against an otherwise mostly brown…

Back when we started Northern Woodlands (as Vermont Woodlands in 1994), we hardly knew what we were getting in for as far as the business end of it goes. If you had told me I would be going to trade…

Here are some ways to get rid of dandelions: spraying 2,4-D (an herbicide, banned in several countries for its health risks, but not in the U.S.); pulling up by hand; mowing the flowers before they…

To wildlife biologists, the benefits of maintaining healthy riparian buffers are self-evident. But to most people, these terms are obscure. Riparian comes from the Latin riparius, meaning…

It might seem odd that a person would really and truly enjoy Green-up day. Around here, it’s on the first Saturday in May that people don gloves and walk the roads to pick up the assorted and…

Roadside carrion is a sure sign of spring, and when I saw a raccoon shuffling along the shoulder of the interstate highway in full daylight today, I wondered about its prospects for longevity. After a…

It’s always a treat when one of your alumni makes good. That’s how I felt when I just read a glowing review of Catherine Tudish’s new novel, American Cream. Catherine worked at…

And now, a few words on a topic that might have slipped your mind: your septic system. Despite the temptation to treat your septic system as “out of sight, out of mind,” you need to pay…

In 1848, workers constructing the railroad line from Bellows Falls to Rutland, Vermont, found the remains of a mastodon buried 11 feet deep in a Mount Holly bog. One tusk was nearly eight feet long.…

A few Saturdays ago, I attended the third annual Vermont Town Forest Project summit. It was held in Hinesburg, Vermont, a town that lies about half in the rising, forested slopes of the Green…

Veterinarians pay attention to it. So do animal trackers. If you own a pet, you are probably paying attention, too, because you have to clean it up. Yes, I’m talking about poop, scat, feces, or…

Delivery Time: New subscribers can expect their first issue 10-20 days after receipt of the order. We fulfill new orders in scheduled batches. Merchandise orders get processed the day they arrive in…

Why did the animal cross the road? The yellow sign, familiar to many, proclaims “Moose Crossing.” But, we wonder, how can anyone predict that a moose would cross at this particular spot,…

When observers of goings-on at the State House in Albany, New York, recall the events of March 10, 2008, chances are they will remember it as the day the news broke about Eliot Spitzer. They will not…

It’s a warm evening, and the only signs of snow are the eroding piles beside the driveway. Down in the valley, there is a chorus erupting, and up on the hill in a pond, another is just beginning…