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Leaping Specks Confound Scientists

The National Enquirer could get some mileage out of snow fleas, if only it were entomologically inclined - and had a microscope. Not only are these minute creatures not fleas, they may not even be…

Wood to Gas to Power

To the uninitiated, a process that heats biomass - wood chips, grass clippings, food wastes and the like - with hot sand to create a gas, which is then burned to power a turbine, which then generates…

O Tannenbaum

This Christmas, the national tree which brightens the west lawn of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., will be a 60-foot tall Vermont balsam fir. The perfectly formed fir has been growing on…

Catamount Questions Continue

On the morning of April 2, Mark Walker saw three panthers walking single file on the snow near Lake Eligo in Craftsbury. Later, when scat collected from their trail was verified to contain hairs from…

Long Beards and Short Tales: Larger Than Life

Paul Bunyan, who caused earthquakes whenever he dropped his biscuits and whose ax handle was made out of a whole pine tree trunk, was never a real folk hero of the lumbering trade. He was the…

Another View: Finding Common Ground

As the Northern Forest Lands Council publishes our recommendations and begins promoting them this fall, it gives me occasion to reflect on their meaning for us and for the forest. The council was…

Bruce Spanworm

The adult of this native pest is often called the hunter's moth. Look for them during hunting season when they emerge from their cocoons in October or November, long after leaves have fallen and…

The Unseen Traveler

Migratory flights of Canada geese are hard to miss. A chorus of honking can be heard in the distance before they come into view in their ever-shifting chevron formation, and witnessing their…

It Looks Like Your Father Was Right: Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees

If they have been half listening, owners of timberland in Vermont may be feeling good these days about the value of their holdings. Prices for stumpage are rising, mills are expanding their capacity,…

Good Neighbors

Rather than good fences, it's cooperation that can make the difference. Ken Clayton's two-acre lot in Bennington includes not more than one acre of wooded land to the north of his house.…

A Rocky Past

Almost anyone who has walked in Vermont's woods must have paused more than once to puzzle over the stone walls that run like stitching through most of the state's wooded land. Even in dense…

Editorial

Many people have let us know that they liked the first issue of Vermont Woodlands and we appreciate their encouraging words. A few people who have read the magazine have looked at me strangely, as…

Making Maples

Seed crops for many tree species were notably high this year, with sugar maple and red maple being particularly prodigious. This past spring saw a landscape dotted with the yellowish maple flowers…

Smart Wood: A Program of the Rainforest Alliance

Does it seem far-fetched to think that a 2 X 4 with a stamp saying that it came from a well-managed forest could command a better price than one without? If so, get ready, for just as organically…

From Consensus to Controversy

National Forest land in New England has not been the scene of the pitched battles over timber sales which are commonplace in the west. When the Green Mountain National Forest adopted its management…

Current Use to be Funded at 59%

Current use is the generic term for taxation of land based on its forestry value rather than fair market value. States across New England have current use programs, and in Vermont it is officially…

Growing Hardy Walnuts

Of all the trees that grow in the northeast, the black walnut is the most highly-prized by cabinetmakers. The trees are scarce enough that a woodworker's quest for good walnut takes on aspects of…

Out of the Wood and Into the Ring

Day in and day out, most loggers work alone in the woods with no chance to show off their skills. That's one reason why so many of them make it to the Vermont Forestry Expo, the big annual event…

Martens in the Mountains

Have you seen any martens? Kimberly Royar would like to know. Royar, a wildlife biologist who works out of the Fish and Wildlife Department office in Springfield, would be interested in hearing from…

Northern Forest Lands Council Wraps It Up

The draft recommendations of the Northern Forest Lands Council released in March were regional in scope, covering 26 million acres in four states. Implementation will be on a state-by-state basis.…