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Newsletter
| January 25, 2013
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 EDITOR'S BLOG
Sugarhouse Certification
Dave Mance III
We took a break from the pre-sugaring-season woods work last weekend and went to the annual Vermont Maple Sugarmakers' Association (VMSMA) conference in Bellows Falls. It's always a nice time - you get to catch up with your fellow sugarmakers, get excited about the coming season, and hopefully learn a few things...
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 THE OUTSIDE STORY
Flying Squirrels: North vs. South
Madeline Bodin
The calls come in all winter, said Paul DeBow of DeBow Wildlife Service in Plymouth, New Hampshire. If there is no snow, the peak will be in January or February, when it's the coldest. Some people think the animals they hear partying in the attic are chipmunks...
Full Article Text
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THE OUTSIDE STORY ARCHIVE FEATURE
When Is The Best Time For Logging?
Chuck Wooster
A logging truck rolling through town on a winter's day is still a common sight in Vermont and New Hampshire. Though winter has historically been the prime season for logging hereabouts, logging these days happens year-round...
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 WHAT IN THE WOODS IS THAT?
Our Biweekly Guessing Game!
Blueberries? In the dead of winter? What plant is this?
Every other week we run a photo of something unusual found in the woods. Guess what it is and you'll be eligible to win a copy of The Outside Story, a paperback collection of our Outside Story newspaper columns. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner's name, will appear in next week's column.
This week's contest deadline is 8:00 AM, Wednesday, February 6, 2013. |
 Previous Contest Answer
Congratulations to our winner David Dargie of Andover, MA! David receives a copy of our book, The Outside Story.
Who pawed his away across this snowy road?
NW Answer: Opossum tracks.
These paw prints come from an opossum. Note the short palm, the offset big toe on the hind foot, and the thin tail drag. (And yes, on the left is a woman's boot track.)
This week's winner is David Dargie, who wrote, "That would be a size 8 women's Timberland boot print. With the long stride, I'd say she was running away from the opossum that was chasing her." (David's mostly right: the boots are a size 7.).
Visit our What In The Woods Is That? contest archive. |
 NORTHERN WOODLANDS NEWS
Northern Woodlands School Program for Maine and Massachusetts Educators
The Center for Northern Woodlands Education has just launched a one-year pilot program in Maine and Massachusetts to raise money for up to 50 schools in each state. The purpose of this effort is to help schools fund environmental education projects (field trips, school gardens, and wildlife encounters, for example).
The concept of the program is simple. Schools can sell regularly priced orders of Northern Woodlands magazine, and keep $10 per subscription sold. Schools interested in participating should email or call (802) 439-6292 for more information.
This program offers a much better margin for schools than the average fundraiser. Northern Woodlands is able to provide this opportunity thanks to generous support from anonymous donors and the Massachusetts Forest Alliance.
Timber Harvesting with Birds in Mind
Audubon Vermont and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation will host a woods tour of an active logging job that demonstrates concepts and practices developed through the partnership between the two organizations. The January 26 tour will take place at the 255-acre Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington, Vermont, where a timber harvest designed to improve forest songbird habitat for species including wood thrush and black-throated blue warbler is underway. The tour is open to the public and runs from 9 am to noon. Space is limited; pre-registration is required. Featured highlights of the event will be meeting with the foresters, biologists, landowner, logger, and other leaders who are working together on this harvest, and seeing the logger and his equipment in action. For information and registration visit Audubon Vermont, or call Charley Wilkinson at (802) 434-3068. Registration is $10 for Audubon Vermont members and $15 for non-members.
Sustainable Forestry 101
The Northwoods Stewardship Center in East Charleston, Vermont, presents a workshop covering the basics of sustainable forestry, including site classification, appropriate goals, silvicultural methods, and logging operations. Participants will be given a set of indicators to look for in sustainable operations, and will be able to better assess their land and work with a forester to develop a management plan. Come prepared to spend the afternoon in the Lydia Spitzer Demonstration Forest. Lunch will be provided. The workshop takes place February 9, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and costs $15. Email or call (802) 723-6551, ext. 115 to register.
Winter Wildlife Tracking
Join a Forest Society naturalist for a guided snowshoe tour along the lower slopes of Sunset Hill (Hay Reservation in Newbury, New Hampshire) to identify tracks and signs of wildlife, including weasels, fisher, coyote, fox, bobcat. Learn basic tracking patterns and the natural history for common local wild mammals. This relatively easy two-mile hike can be challenging on snowshoes in deep snow. Bring lunch and water. The tracking tour is February 2, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. with a snow date of February 3. Preregistration required. |
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We Welcome Your Questions and Comments
Postal Address:
Northern Woodlands
1776 Center Road
P.O. Box 471
Corinth, VT 05039
Toll-Free: (800) 290-5232
Phone: (802) 439-6292
Fax: (802) 439-6296
Email: mail@northernwoodlands.org
General inquiries form
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The mission of the Center for Northern Woodlands Education is to advance a culture of forest stewardship in the Northeast and to increase understanding of and appreciation for the natural wonders, economic productivity and ecological integrity of the region's forests. Our programs give people the information they need to help build a sustainable future for our region. Through Northern Woodlands magazine, the Northern Woodlands Goes to School program, and special publications, we make a difference in how people care for their land.
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