DBH is shorthand for the diameter of a tree’s trunk measured at breast height. Setting aside the interesting and potentially delicate new questions the latter two words raise, let’s first…

In our story, “Putting Wood in Your Gas Tank,” in the Spring 2006 issue, it was stated that the part of the corn plant that was being made into ethanol is the stover – the stalks and…

“You can’t get there from here” is a classic Yankee punchline, usually delivered at the end of a joke involving an old-timer, a bewildered tourist, and a location somewhere over hill…

When summer downpours drive you indoors, or you’re weary from a day-hiking or canoeing, you might be surprised to find that the outdoors can be found inside, on a television station near you. In…

An oddity in the plant world is the roughly one percent of plant species that do not manufacture their own carbohydrates via photosynthesis. Instead, these plants are parasites, stealing carbohydrates…

Working as a consultant forester, I get to see some unusual things in the forest, but what I found last winter on a woodlot in Ludlow, Vermont, truly amazed me. This woodlot is owned by Charles Miller…

Tucked in the deep, hilly woods of west-central New Hampshire are several bears, and a man, who are famous by virtue of their relationship with one another. Mother Bear Man – aka Ben Kilham…

State fish and wildlife agencies across the country have each recently completed a comprehensive Wildlife Action Plan. These plans are required by Congress in order for states to have access to a new…

My first encounters with black bears took place at the dump in Inlet, New York, not exactly what you would call a wild place. It was the early 1960s, and at dusk my brothers and I, along with carloads…

Warblers can be hard to find. First of all, they are small. Slip three in an envelope, and a single 39-cent stamp would be sufficient to cover the postage. And they are binocular-shy, possessing a…

The next time you are driving through Moose Alley on U.S. Route 3 in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, or watching a moose wallow in a Green Mountain marsh, you can thank the beaver for helping make it…

Most people know that tree species vary in their ability to tolerate shade, with shade-tolerant species often found growing in the dim light underneath the shade-intolerant canopy trees they may one…

Primal, elemental, and evocative of the wild recesses of the human spirit, the “common” loon is among our most beloved birds. Its rapacious ancestors swam with dinosaurs and snared…

What is diatomaceous earth, you ask? Quite simply, it is the naturally occurring remains of Bacillariophyceae algae, unicellular organisms that have been abundant in the world’s oceans, lakes,…

If warblers have nightmares, they are probably about their cousin, the loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus). An elegant little bird, the shrike’s appearance is not what makes it so fearsome.…

I’ll make one prediction about this coming summer: the floor of the dry storage above our garage will become covered in bat guano. How do the culprits of this mess – likely little brown…

Ebola, SARS, avian flu. All of these are horrifying diseases. They have all attracted quite a bit of media attention lately. And, luckily, they seem to be diseases that are more of a concern to people…

Yesterday a warm mid-March sun shone upon a few inches of fresh snow. By nightfall, it was cold again and starry clear – perfect for bobcat courtship. Evidence of last night’s wildcatting…

Several years ago, I attended a talk by a Seattle man who described how civic leaders, after much consideration, had adopted the Pacific salmon as the key indicator of quality of life in their region.…

“Good weather for ducks.” How often have you heard a drizzly spring day described this way? But how about if the weather is 15 degrees Fahrenheit, with a stiff wind and light snow? Could…