Private forests, especially in the eastern U.S., are being converted to non-forest uses at an unprecedented rate, according to a new U.S. Forest Service report. The report, Forests on the Edge:…

Spreading salt to make treacherous ice magically disappear from road surfaces must have seemed brilliant in the early days of its use. Naturally occurring, abundant, and cheap, road salt allows us to…

Here’s something you already knew: home heating oil and propane prices are up roughly 50 percent from a year ago across the Northeast. More old news: same with firewood. But what your local news…

Water is a remarkable substance. Like air, it is necessary for the existence of virtually all life forms. It is present – although in differing amounts – throughout the world. It moves…

My wife recently came across a very interesting family document, an official inventory of the estate of her great-great-grandfather, Robert McCrillis, who died in 1884 in Topsham, Vermont. Written in…

Recently I spent the afternoon in the woods with a long-time friend of mine, Charlie Moreno. Charlie and I graduated from forestry school a year apart and have since maintained our connection in…

Just as a door needs hinges to allow it to function properly, a good hinge is needed to safely bring a tree to the ground. In tree felling, the hinge is the uncut wood left between the notch, known as…

When I see birches bend to left and right Across the lines of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boy's been swinging them. -Robert Frost, "Birches" Thanks to Robert Frost, when you see…

I opened the lever action and showed my grandson Aidan, age 8, that my deer rifle wasn’t loaded. As his mother and grandmother watched us, I asked Aidan if he wanted to hold the rifle. He looked…

Hikers in the Adirondack Mountains of New York and the Green Mountains of Vermont often share a common reward when they emerge from the wooded lower slopes to the open summits: a marvelous view of the…

It’s easy to speak of the elegance and charm of butterflies and moths: their gift of flight, their role as pollinators, their place in poetry, their gossamer beauty. But save some respect for…

We all live with contradictions, and mostly we manage our internal conflicts without major incident. Sometimes, though, the warring emotions become a public battle as well, as happens in The Golden…

The prices reported here are those that log buyers—mostly sawmills and wholesalers—are paying for logs. Because these are prices paid for delivered wood, landowners need to adjust the…

Scientists have found that Christmas trees have more to offer people than just a dose of holiday cheer. In fact, one tree in particular, Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), has bark that contains…

Our regenerating forests may not be the panacea for mitigating global climate change that some experts once expected, say researchers in the journal Science. By sponging up vast amounts of the carbon…

We’ve all heard that crows and jays are among the smartest of the avian crew. And we have all year to watch them excel, since they don’t fly south for the winter. But chickadees and…

The fruiting structures of the tinder polypore are not hard to recognize, especially if you can remember that it has another common name, which is “hoof fungus.” Shaped like a…

"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds." —Aesop, Fables: The Lay and the Peacock Of all the birds that regularly visit backyard feeders, none is more easily recognized - or has a…

Everything we do – or don’t do – in a forest is forest management. Many of today’s foresters strive to provide excellent forest management. But what exactly does that mean?…

Here’s a question for the season: where does all that mulch go? Farmers and gardeners across Vermont and New Hampshire have laid down thick carpets of mulch – leaves, hay, straw,…