Magazine Series

If you are following a compass course through the woods, one sight that can sink your spirits in a hurry is an expanse of common juniper directly ahead. Juniper patches are not as painful to…

A few years back, I saw a very cute ad that featured a photo of a couple of toddlers. The script read, “Come see what we saw.” I wondered what it was that they might have seen, and…

One of the primary principles of safe chainsaw operation is to have control of the saw at all times, including while starting the saw. Because one of your hands must be pulling the starter…

The prices reported here are those that log buyers—mostly sawmills and wholesalers—are paying for logs. Because these are prices paid for delivered wood, landowners need to adjust…

In late July, I spent some time watching maple trumpet skeletonizers under a microscope. At that time they were tiny, just an eighth of an inch long, wispy, and translucent. The…

Green building programs have been developed over the past 10 to 15 years with the objective of shifting the built environment toward more sustainability. As the influence of these programs…

The forests of New England and northern New York are among the most diverse and intricate ecosystems on the planet. With mind-boggling numbers of plant and animal species living in complex…

A climax forest is a good place to start an argument with an ecologist. To some, it is a nice name for forests that have escaped disturbance by outside forces like storms or diseases or…

My friend Dan reached out with the long hardwood branch he had found, placing it in the midpoint of the stream we were attempting to cross. He passed the pole-like branch from hand to hand,…

Back in April, I attended the annual winter meeting of the New England Society of American Foresters (NESAF) in Nashua, New Hampshire. This was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with old…