Are women different from men when it comes to owning and managing a forest? If so, do those differences matter? With more than 60 percent of private woodland owners in the U.S. older than age 55, we…
November 23rd 2009
The Long View
Every few years, I’m treated to a recurring dream, an archetypal dream that I’ve heard others describe as well. In it, I have just moved into a new house, and as I settle into my new…
November 23rd 2009
From the Center
“Follow the money” was Deep Throat’s advice to Woodward and Bernstein as they investigated the Watergate break-in, and it has also been the watchword for people trying to figure out…
November 19th 2009
Bears Fattening Up for Winter’s Slumber
Conventional wisdom says that if you put up a bird feeder on Nov. 1 and take it down on April 1, you won’t have a problem with marauding bears, because they hibernate between those dates. After…
November 12th 2009
McIntyre Job Machine
A few years back, a group of amateur history buffs spent the better part of two days dragging an enormous hunk of metal off a densely wooded mountain in southern Vermont. The area is referred to on…
November 12th 2009
Opening Camp
Consult any deer camp journal and you’ll read that each year camp is “opened” the Friday before hunting season, as in: “11-13-09 Joe opened camp around 10 A.M..” If…
November 12th 2009
Newts Too Close for Comfort
When we bought our old farmhouse 40 years ago, its source of water was a spring that gushed from a hillside. The water seemed clean thanks in part to gravel that had been placed on the muddy bottom…
November 9th 2009
Forest Trees of Maine
Over the past 100 years, the Maine Forest Service has published 14 editions of a book (originally a booklet) called The Forest Trees of Maine. To celebrate the centenary, the newest edition has been…
November 9th 2009
Wasps versus Borers
The adult emerald ash borer (EAB) is a beautiful, metallic-green beetle, too pretty, it would seem, to be so deadly. And yet, in its larval form, the EAB has killed millions of ash trees since its…
November 9th 2009
The Power of Trees
When scientists and students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology hammered a nail into a tree on campus and wired it to a metal rod in the ground, they confirmed Internet reports they had…
November 6th 2009
Wood Pellets
While sawtimber mills and markets continue to struggle, the fuelwood portion of the forest economy is growing slowly. Recent good news out of Maine has it that International WoodFuels plans to break…
November 6th 2009
Bruce Spanworm: A Deer Hunter’s Companion
There is something odd about a moth flying through the woods in the angled daylight of November. Moths and November ordinarily mix about as well as fire and water. It’s basically too cold for…
October 30th 2009
Moose Part 2
“Thanks for coming with me,” said Trev. “Sorry we couldn’t close the deal.” His voice was tired then, and a touch disappointed. He was thinking wistfully about the four…
October 29th 2009
Busy Airport for Hard-Working Yellow Jackets
Looking out from the sun porch a few weeks ago, I noticed unusual activity near a sunlit corner of the house. Vespid wasps, better known as yellow jackets, were flying from a gap in the clapboards.…
October 23rd 2009
Pomainville Wildlife Management Area
Susan Elliott, a member of the Rutland County Audubon Society took this photo while bird monitoring in the Pomainville Wildlife Management Area in Pittsford, VT. What in the woods is it?
October 22nd 2009
Weasels Begin to Put on Winter Whites
The tumbledown stonewalls that flank many a wooded road in New Hampshire and Vermont stand as picturesque reminders of former pastures and times gone by. They also have an ongoing function. Their…
October 22nd 2009
Return of the Moose
Moose are arguably the most novel of all North American large mammals, if for no other reason than their strange appearance. Whereas deer and elk are handsome creatures, rams majestic, and bears awe…