Maine’s forests, stretching across 89 percent of the state, have long been the backbone of its economy, sustaining generations of loggers, truckers, and mill workers. Over the course of four…

Dozens of people contribute to creating each issue of Northern Woodlands. Here are a few of the people whose work is featured in the Autumn magazine. {image2} Loren Merrill (Discoveries, page 68, and…

Picea is the classic Latin name for a conifer that produces a resinous material; the Latin term is probably derived from the Greek word for pitch, pissa. In the 1700s, several botanists used picea as…

To run, your chainsaw needs air, fuel, spark, and compression in the cylinder. If any of those components are missing, your chainsaw won’t work – or at least won’t run and cut…

Two miles down the trail that’s still drunk from coal dust though the rails screamed their way to scrap half a century since, we quit walking calm, start skewing wild as if those old ghost…

Since the late 19th century, the six-million-acre Adirondack Park – as big as Vermont, bigger than Yellowstone, Glacier, Everglades, and Grand Canyon national parks combined – has defined…

My neighbor Judy Smith, who is a geologist, told me one afternoon that the shale cliffs we looked up at from her cottage porch, along the north branch of the Susquehanna River, are Devonian rocks,…

When John Adler, at the age of 23, first heard Swedish logger Soren Eriksson talk about new techniques for harvesting trees safely and efficiently, he saw an opportunity. Adler had been cutting wood…

As climate change continues to reshape ecosystems across the globe, forests – key players in the Earth’s carbon cycle – are also undergoing significant transformations. A study…

The American woodcock is a favorite of bird enthusiasts and hunters alike, delighting people with its quirky walking style, bug-eyed appearance, spectacular aerial courtship displays, and (apparently)…

Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) trees are a familiar sight along rural roads and field edges over much of the Northeast. They are recognizable year-round by their telltale bark, with pieces peeling off…

Fungi are a fundamental part of forest ecosystems. They break down dead plant material, releasing nutrients for other organisms to use, and they help plants access water and nutrients needed for…

While studying for a master’s degree in architecture at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Aleksandra “Sasha” Azbel discovered a new love: textiles. She was intrigued by the…

Lenny Gorski first noticed piebald deer – two of them – while searching for bucks to photograph more than three decades ago. “A piebald deer will have white mixed into its coat, and…

The nature of a quarterly magazine timed to publish with the change of seasons means that I’m writing my column for this Autumn issue during the hottest, muggiest days of summer. The green…

Bumble bees are culturally iconic and essential to our environment. While unwittingly inspiring classical music, soft toys, and jewelry, bumble bees pollinate flowers both obscure and important to…

Today, four days from the end of October, I plan to walk the edge of a small creek. As the raven flies, it’s 15 miles east of our house, two ridges into the Ridge and Valley, yet I’ve…

Insect pollinators provide critical ecosystem services across the planet. A 2011 study in the journal Oikos estimated that between 75 and 95 percent of the planet’s flowering plant species,…

People are exposed to ticks across diverse outdoor environments, from backyard gardens to backcountry wilderness. To limit tick-borne diseases, we can discourage ticks from biting us by wearing…

About a year ago, I took over Northern Woodlands’ This Week in the Woods blog, which my predecessor and skilled observer Elise Tillinghast began during the pandemic and wrote for four years.…