northernwoodlands.org
Newsletter                                                                                             September 18, 2015
gross botfly
Dave Mance III

Like a lot of kids who grew up rural, I was introduced to many of the wonders of nature through hunting. Specifically squirrel hunting, which is how most kids get their start. I don't do much anymore, but I try to get out a few times each autumn on those first cool days...

bear on gamecam
Dave Mance III

Welcome to the new Northern Woodlands Game Camera blog! We were inspired by all the great game camera pictures readers have sent us over the years, so we got two game cameras of our own and set them up outside the office. The goal of the project is to capture images of the wildlife living in our backyard, then share the pictures with you and the lessons we learned trying to get the shot. We'll update the content once a month.

We set both our cameras up at a pinch point in a small stream where a bunch of different habitat types converged. To the west was an overgrown flood plain; to the east and south mixed woods; to the north agricultural land, both hay and corn. It was a good spot for a camera in that it was an area that would be frequented by many different animal species. The variation would allow us to cast a large net, and being new at this, to fine-tune our technique...

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bats
Todd McLeish

In 2006, I joined a team of biologists to trap bats in Vermont's Chittenden County. We were searching for North America's rarest bat, the Indiana bat, which had recently been discovered breeding in a forest in Middlebury. The biologists hoped to identify additional populations of this endangered species and develop a better sense of how they were faring...

multiflora rose
Carolyn Lorié

Multiflora rose is not without charm; in fact, there was a time when people went out of their way to plant it. The pretty spring flowers have a sweet scent; birds nest in the sturdy branches and eat the berries. You might even catch a glimpse of a bear or snowshoe hare gnawing on the twigs and bark...

foliage misfortune
What happened to this leaf?
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 one of our Season's Main Events Day Calendars. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner's name, will appear in our next e-newsletter.

This week's contest deadline is 8:00 AM, Wednesday, September 30, 2015.
willow pine cone gall
Congratulations to our winner Rickey Poor! Rickey receives a Season's Main Events Day Calendar.

Spotted in southern Vermont; what is this?       



NW Answer:


Willow pine cone gall. 
NORTHERN WOODLANDS NEWS
Our cup runneth over. Actually, our inbox spilleth over. Either way, we have a lot of interesting news stories that cross our desks. Here were some of our favorites:
  
NATURE

A new species of human is found. Ever wonder what happens inside a forest when it catches fire? Trail camera fun in Massachusetts and a new, environmentally-friendly culvert in the Adirondacks. We're getting closer to mapping forests from space. And we just got a dramatic look back in time, thanks to a 30,000-year-old squirrel's nest. History is made as an ice-breaker reaches the North Pole. Researchers tell us that female mice sing for sex and provide a list of the most painful places to get a bee sting.

INDUSTRY

For those with a taste for the finer things in life, this company sells the best firewood on earth. This company turns living trees into furniture (and is real). Pellets are in high demand, but short supply. McDonalds and a few other major companies are tuning in to forest sustainability. A thirst for sap in Vermont, the politics of conservation in New Hampshire, and an LL Bean icon dies in Maine.

STORIES YOU'VE SHARED

On Tuesday, Sept. 22, the Vermont Woodlands Association will conduct a "Succession Planning for Woodland Owners" workshop in Stowe. The workshop will feature Clint Bentz, CPA, author of Ties to the Land, and a national leader in family forest succession planning. The morning's general sessions will be geared toward landowners in all stages of the planning process. The afternoon's three concurrent in-depth sessions will focus on family, financial, and legal issues. An afternoon's introductory planning workshop on Ties to the Land will also be offered for those new to succession planning. Learn more here.

Vermont Coverts is sponsoring a Women's Game of Logging (Level I) on September 26 in Derby, Vermont. By listening to explanations, watching demonstrations, and then practicing techniques, participants come away with better work habits and greater confidence in their ability to safely fell trees and work in the woods. Level I provides an overview of chain saw safety and covers basic tree felling and you will fell a tree! The fee is $170; to register, contact Lisa Sausville at (802) 877-2777 or email.

Are you interested in learning more about trees, tree care, and stewardship of trees? Do you want to make a difference in your community? The Stewardship of the Urban Landscape (SOUL) Tree Steward Program trains stewards and advocates for the trees, forests, and green spaces in which we live, work, and play. This fall the program will be offered in Springfield, Vermont at the UVM Extension Office. Learn more here.     
conference
This workshop will be focused on developing short personal narratives about place. With Northern Woodlands' "Place in Mind" essays as guides, we will use indoor and outdoor writing exercises to explore specific aspects of successful place narratives. The "Place in Mind" samples will be available to read beforehand, and if you come to the workshop with your own "place in mind"-a location you'd like to write about, and even a reason you'd like to write about it-you'll have material to develop in the workshop.

About the Presenters

Terry Osborne is a Senior Lecturer in the Environmental Studies Program and the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric at Dartmouth College. He is the author of the memoir Sightlines: The View of a Valley through the Voice of Depression (2001, University Press of New England), and he also selected the essays and wrote the introduction for Best Person Rural (2006, David R. Godine), a collection of Noel Perrin's rural essays. His own essays, articles and reviews have appeared in publications such as Orion, Vermont Life, The Chicago Tribune, and The North American Review.

Patrick White is assistant editor of Northern Woodlands magazine and has worked as an editor at several other regional and national publications over the years. He has also been a freelance writer for the past 20 years.

Sponsored by The Trust for Public Land, this conference explores how writers, artists, and educators express the rich forest heritage of the Northeast: both the natural history of our region and the interactions of people and place. View photos from last year's event on our Facebook page. Enrollment is limited so register today!

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