The late summer air is cool and heavy as I reach the trailhead. To hike through a forest at night is to move through a world dominated no longer by sight but by sound and smell. Nearing a spot on the…

At this time of year, it’s the caterpillars eating leaves in the garden or the deer flies after our blood that get most of our attention. But behind the scenes are many insects that eat other…

Northern Woodlands’ subscriber Katie Koerten came across these cups of black kernels while exploring a wooded area in a Vermont bog. What are they?

A few weeks back, I was visited by two city friends from Brooklyn. In the interest of cultural exchange, I figured I’d make venison steaks and fresh-caught wild trout for dinner – a sort…

I first heard about hairy-chested yeti crabs while driving home one night, listening to NPR. Robert Siegel was interviewing Alex Rogers, an Oxford biologist. Rogers led a research team that discovered…

It occurred to me recently, after spotting a white-feathered American robin scampering along a dirt road, normal-colored robins alongside him, that in all my years of observing wildlife and working…

Photographer Tod Seelie spent last summer in Philadelphia working on the Miss Rockaway Armada, a largescale art project. “During our building phase,” Seelie said, “a massive heat…

Healthy forests play an absolutely vital role in moderating water movement over our landscape. Although forests cannot prevent large floods outright, they certainly do minimize the frequency,…

Those of us who enjoy forestry and baseball get a kick out of watching professional ballplayers stride to bat holding little pieces of the northern forest in their hands, though if you’re not a…

What’s got these maple leaves so pink?

Inchworms are one of the few creepy-crawlies I let skulk across my bare skin. Who doesn’t delight in the ridiculous arching of the worm’s body, followed by the exaggerated, full-body…

“Currently there is no environmental ethic focused on meeting wood needs locally and little criticism of consumption behavior. Instead, an anti-logging ethic reigns and degradation of the…

These days, the talk around Berlin, New Hampshire, revolves around what comes next. Politicians and venture capitalists and community groups are hard at work trying to come up with a second act for…

Some ground beetles are big and beautiful: shiny black or iridescent green or bluish. And because many of them are unable or reluctant to fly, they are easily caught; you can get a good long look at…

To the naked eye, Venus is one of the most easily identified planets. It’s the bright evening (and morning) star that you often see plopped in the sky blazing brilliantly next to the moon.…

Route 113 at twilight. The sun’s last gasp now just a smear in the western sky. Early stars over a stripe of asphalt that’s meandering down into Chelsea. My truck upon that road. The…

To the naked eye, Venus is one of the most easily identified planets. It’s the bright evening (and morning) star that you often see plopped in the sky blazing brilliantly next to the moon.…

The conventional thinking in the publishing world is that newspapers, books, and magazines will soon all be produced and distributed electronically. No more inky fingers; everything will be on a…

This root was dug up in a Vermont forest. It’s edible, has the consistency of a radish, and is quite delicious. What is it?

In April, I submitted my resignation to the Center for Northern Woodlands Education board after a great deal of soul-searching and examination of options. Since joining the staff in January 2010,…