17 results for "forest insights"

I just bought a parcel of forestland and I don’t know where to start. Do I need a forester? Even for people who have owned a parcel of forestland for a long time, caring for a forest can…

I’ve heard foresters and wildlife biologists talking about “softening edges.” What is an edge, and what does it mean to “soften” one? Why is it important? And how…

We know that emerald ash borer is going to kill most of the ash trees in our forest, but is there value in chemically treating a few trees – and, if so, which ones? What about the…

My neighbors are having some trees cut on their land. When I asked about it, they told me not to worry – that it would be a “selective cut.” What is a selective cut? And what…

With all the extreme weather events we’ve been having, I’ve been seeing lots of erosion on our access roads and skid trails. I’m concerned about losing access to my land and…

I’m trying to promote regeneration on a woodlot that had been high-graded before I took over management of it, leaving mainly diseased beech behind. Deer over-browsing is also a…

Two of the regular columns in the Summer 2023 issue of Northern Woodlands magazine are related to northeastern bats. Forest Insights describes opportunities to promote summer bat habitat in…

I’ve seen some bats flying around the edge of my woods, and I’d really like to help them because I know that they’ve been hit pretty badly by white-nose syndrome. Where are…

I’ve tended to think about deer over-browsing in forests as primarily a tree regeneration problem, because that damage is easy to see. In my own woods, the sad, scraggly remains of…

Between 60 and 80 percent of plants growing in the Northeast, including many of our food crops, need pollinators to reproduce. While many people associate pollinator habitat with wildflower…

Forest succession is the process of forest development, a series of stages through which forests progress, each stage following – succeeding – the last. It is tempting to think of…

Dead wood, also called woody debris, woody material, or even necromass, is a normal and natural part of forests. Dead wood takes a number of forms, from dead-standing trees (snags) to twigs…

Legacy trees are trees of an older generation that persist in a younger forest. The ecological benefits of legacy trees are many. Their complex bark provides habitat for mosses and lichens,…

As our forests awaken from a long winter, some plants green-up sooner than others. While many of our native trees and plants remain dormant, the young leaves of woody non-native invasive…

Today’s forests must respond to a changing world, with stressors ranging from fragmentation and pollution to invasive pests and a shifting climate. One of the best things we can do to…

I turn off my saw and set it down on the dry duff. My heart is pounding, my shirt soaked in sweat. Around me what was once a placid forest, gently changing on the steep hillside, has been…