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Newsletter
February 22, 2013
In This Issue
Editor's Blog
The Outside Story
What In The Woods?
Last Week's Contest Answer
Northern Woodlands News
Quick Links

tap EDITOR'S BLOG
Dispatch From The Sugarwoods 2013
Dave Mance III   

 

February 2. Overcast. 25�F at 5 p.m. I'm sitting in camp on the eve of sugaring season, and the walls are just starting to absorb the wood stove's heat after a month of straight cold. Venison stew bubbles on the antique range. Blue light falls through the windows...

   

skunk THE OUTSIDE STORY 

The Winter Life of the Skunk     

Megh Rounds            

 

In summer, you always know when a striped skunk has been around. But in winter, these animals make themselves scarce, hunkering down to wait out the onslaught of ice and snow...

 

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maples
THE OUTSIDE STORY ARCHIVE FEATURE

Sorting Out The Maples         

Chuck Wooster             

 

There you are, leaning against a big maple in your sugarbush, drill and tap at the ready, when you think, "Wait a minute...is this a red maple or a sugar maple?"...

 

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snow fleas WHAT IN THE WOODS IS THAT?
Our Biweekly Guessing Game!

If Sting saw this photo, he'd likely sing, "There are little black specks on the snow today." What are those black specks? Photo by Jenna Gersie.

   

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, March 6, 2013.
snowball Previous Contest Answer

Congratulations to our winner Shirley Nelson! Shirley receives a copy of our book, The Outside Story.

These snowballs weren't made by the neighborhood kids. So who, or what, made them?


NW Answer: The wind.


If conditions are right, snow rollers can form when the wind blows large chunks of snow across the ground, causing the chunks to pick up more snow as they roll along. The center is often hollow as the inner layers are the weakest and thinnest, making them easy for the wind to blow out. Snow rollers are also known as snow donuts. Yum.


This week's winner is Shirley Nelson, who writes, "We have 175 acres of fields that were covered with these on January 20. The ones we had were from baseball size to bigger than basketballs."

  

 Visit our What In The Woods Is That? contest archive.

NW Woodpecker logo NORTHERN WOODLANDS NEWS

White Mountain Artist-in-Residence Program

 
The White Mountain National Forest is partnering with the Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire to continue the Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program; they're now seeking applications for 2013. Applications must be received by March 15. The AIR program offers professional and emerging artists in all media - visual and performing artists, craftspeople, writers, composers, eco-artists and media artists - an opportunity to pursue their particular art form while being inspired by the forest and sharing their work and artistic process with members of the public. For additional information and to apply, click here.

New Hampshire Backyard Sugaring Workshops

On Saturday, February 23, Tim Fleury, Merrimack County Natural Resources Field Specialist, will be offering a free talk at 10 a.m. on intermediate backyard maple sugaring at Osborne's Agway, 258 Sheep Davis Road in Concord, New Hampshire. For information, call (603) 228-8561. The University of New Hampshire Cheshire County Cooperative Extension presents two beginner workshops on March 2 at two locations: Agway, 80 Martell Court in Keene at 10 a.m., and Agway, 334 Main St. in Walpole at 1 p.m. These workshops are geared toward first-timers and beginners having less than 75 taps. All aspects of sugaring will be covered, including tree identification and tapping, collecting and boiling sap, finishing, filtering, and packing syrup, and equipment. Call (603) 352-4550 or email for more information.

Winter Retreat for Adventurous Women

Vermont Outdoors Woman is offering Winter Doe Camp March 1-3 at the Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee, Vermont, where women and daughters ages 15 and up can learn about and participate in winter survival skills, ice fishing, handgun and rifle instruction, dog sledding, winter camping, fire building, navigation-orienteering, animal tracking, and more. Cabins are available for overnight stays and meals are included. For more information, contact Lynn Daly via email, or click here.

Webinar: Forest Carbon Offsets

Dylan Jenkins of Finite Carbon presents a webinar "Forest Carbon Offsets: Is There a Path to Market?" March 12, noon-1 p.m. Sustainable forestry is a significant financial commitment for landowners of any size. The promise of payments for ecosystem services has long been known to the forestry community as a potential means to promote sustainable forest management by compensating landowners for the many public goods they provide at little or no cost to consumers. In this webinar Dylan will walk managers through the current market and the project development process, and explain actual registered project case studies to discuss opportunities, lessons learned, and a path to market for domestic forest carbon offsets. Click here to register.

Young Logger - Young Forester Maple and Mud Meeting

Young loggers and foresters are welcome to a cookout and conversation around the evaporator for the Third Annual Maple and Mud Meeting at the sugarhouse of Ben Crowell, 369 Burnt Hill Road, New London, New Hampshire. The event takes place Monday, March 18, 5:30-8 p.m. (or until the sap is gone). For more details or to RSVP, call Eric Johnson, program director for the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association, at (603) 224-9699 This event is free for NHTOA members. 
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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.