Site Discussions

I love your article!  I am currently looking to hang my shingle as a copywriter promoting forest industries.  I feel strongly that forests need a good market for the products in order to thrive.  The nature of value judgements—and how diversity can be used as a standard—was something driven home to me in the course of my forestry studies at WVU.  You did a very nice job communicating the complexities in a smart narrative, Mr, Mance.  Hats off to the Foundation for Sustainable Forests!

I greatly enjoyed reading about you, Evon and your family’s life as stewards of the land.  You’ve accomplished wonderful things since our Bronx Science days.  I am convinced that your journey has been amazing and only wish that you would share it as an inspiration to others.

Even better than the usual fine articles in Northern Woodlands.
Let’s not forget the boardwalk at TNC’s Eshqua bog in Woodstock, VT.

When laying out skid roads for a logging job in Winter with snow on the ground it is sometimes hard to know for sure if a particular area is a bog.  I would sometimes carry a 6 foot walking staff.  It always surprised me a little when I could shove the staff through a foot or so of snow and 4 feet more into a bog.

Our town of 750 people has a minister that ministers to the whole town not just his congregation.  This keeps him pretty busy and he is always behind on his firewood.  This was noticed and a small group decided to do his firewood for him.  Word got around, as it tends to do in a small town, and about 12 people showed up.  Each year more and more people showed up until it had built up to over 20 people, and the four cords were cut, hauled, split and stacked in about a half day.  Amazingly everyone worked, there was no idle chit-chat until the work was done - then there was plenty along with good food and a nice beer.

In the record book of our Center School, built in 1794, the minutes of the September 12, 1836 meeting of the local school district note that it was voted that “Wm S. Averill is to find the School wood for $2.20 per week provided the Agent Cannot provide it Cheaper.” The year before it was voted that one tenth of the total budget “be dedicated to purchasing a stove”.

Then, as now, energy was a big part of the school budget in northern New England.

While swimming off the beach at Williams Avenue in Strathmere N.J.on 09/12/19 (1:30 p.m.- 4:10 p.m) there was a constant movement of dragonflies and butterflies coming off the ocean from an ENE direction. It seemed that the dragonflies and butterflies would fly over us in clusters.
At the time that we left the beach at approximately 4:00 p.m., the packs of green darners coming off the ocean made us stop and stare in amazement.

With a flock of 30 birds in the garden all summer, they have suddenly vanished completely; even leaving the feeder untouched.
Does anyone know why?

There’s a massive group of green darners that have been zipping around an area about 60 square feet for the last hour.  It’s amazing and I’ve never seen anything like it! Based on your description of migration times, I suspect that’s what we’re watching.

I can’t stand the little pests. They’ve taken over the feeders once again. I guess I need to get out the trap. They’re aggressive little things that shove off all the other birds, till no other birds come. That, to us anyway, isn’t very entertaining to watch.

The other year I flushed hens from 2 nests in patches of Canada thistle; one with 14 eggs, the other with 12. More than a couple months later I returned to find the nest with the eggs still present an intact.  A lady from the NRCS explained that if a hen is flushed she will frequently abandon the nest, build a new nest and start laying eggs all over again.

Some of our red pines are dying one branch at a time from the bottom up. What could be going on?

I am not a woodworker at all, but came across this article when googling the definition of heartwood and sapwood to help understand a dense poem I’m reading about trees. This was so helpful, thank you so much!

I m not so much in love with these birds. Mine are as big as chickens. I fill up my feeder and it last a week, since the doves arrived it’s empty in one day. I’m not going to fill it up again until it gets cold out. I can’t afford to feed the birds if these doves hang around.

I had 2 Swallowtail Cats pupate on the same day in mid August.  One eclosed on Aug 25, and the other still hasn’t.  It has now been in chrysalis for 22 days.  We had an unseasonably cool August and now Sep.  Is there a chance of this one hatching this fall if we get a spell of warm indian summer temps - or is it definitely destined to overwinter since it has been so long already?

As a person that has lived 85 years, much of it out of doors, I can say that insects, both numerically and by species have hugely diminished in my lifetime. As examples, when was the last time you had to clean insects off your car windshield? Not so long ago we had to do it daily. Not anymore. Or had your outdoor lights attract thousands of bugs? Not anymore. I rest my case.

This podcast seemed very biased toward hunters/trappers. At one point it’s stated that deer are “public property” and that that designation basically overrules the RIGHTS of landowners to post their property. So the RIGHTS over landowners is magically usurped by the “privilege” of hunters to hunt. How does that work, when there’s a hunter sitting in his truck outside of someone’s property line, but runs packs of radio-collared dogs across posted land? I have a neighbor whose property was invaded by a extremely loud pack of dogs at 3am, chasing a bear across his property. When he complained to the F&W board, he was basically ignored. So just to clarify then, the “privileges” of hunters/trappers is paramount to the RIGHTS of property owners? Next time there’s an election, I’d love to see Governor Scott be truthful and try getting re-elected by denigrating the RIGHTS of Vermont landowners.

I’m curious as to how this impacts native plants and animal species. They have changed the landscape drastically. Isn’t there a loss in biodiversity?

Thses are nice simple photos of the monarch’s emergence.  Easy for kig=ds but also the simple explainaton is so nice in the world of complicated words and explanations. We need to simplify and the monarch simple emergence keeps the simplicity of life at a good level of understanding Thank you.

Several years ago I began establishing plots of milkweed as well as establishing gardens that attract butterflies. The payoff was this year as there were chrysalis hanging from bucket handles, window frames, outdoor house plants….. Monarchs and other butterflies (swallowtails and more) floated and drifted through the meadows. Is there anything more serene on a sunny late Summer afternoon?