Magazine Series

Healthy butternut trees are now so rare that, before the image of this tree in its full glory fades, let’s bring the butternut tree of 40 years ago to mind. Back then it was a robust…

Bill Mackowski’s stick-built house and rustic outbuildings in Milford, Maine, taken as a whole, suggest a frontier settlement more than a modern, private residence. Antique tools,…

Most loggers are well aware of the perils of blue stain. If freshly cut logs are left for any length of time in the summer months, one of the many species of fungus that leave bluish streaks…

Cutting wood is inherently hazardous work. Even if you’re using state-of-the-art techniques and practices, stuff still happens, as the saying goes. A quick word on chainsaw injuries and…

Editor’s Note: these are challenging times in the timber industry. Most mills have cut back on production; some are simply not buying logs. Many loggers have had to reduce crew size or…

Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for teaching women in her native Kenya to plant trees. Of course, her work is much more complicated than that, but her call for…

Plant life is an essential foundation of wildlife habitat. Whether in a northern hardwood forest or an agricultural landscape, plants form the base of the food chain, the structure of the…

"Plants are in the business of making themselves inedible,” says Tom Vogelmann, a plant biologist at the University of Vermont. Being unable to run and hide from predators,…

The Vermont State Fair is an extravaganza of carnival rides, livestock shows, demolition derbies, harness racing, live music, yummy junk food, art exhibits, vegetable and pie competitions,…

The Northern Forest Canoe Trail is a roiling, serene, deep, shallow, narrow, and broad “trail” that follows a tortuous (some would say “torturous”) route across five…