By JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future Writer You could tell where George Merrill was working by the muted growl of the machinery. We picked our way down the slope on a packed double-track carpeted with hemlock boughs stripped from the trees he was cutting. At the end of the trail, Merrill finished limbing and…
By JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future Writer What’s not to like about the eastern white pine? A majestic tree. Long-lived. Producer of clear, easily-worked, durable lumber that takes stain well, glues up nicely, is moderately priced, readily available. And, it is one of those trees that responds predictably and readily to a handful of…
Factors at play today will help create the woods of the 22nd century By JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future Writer When Verso Paper Co. announced the impending closure of its faltering Bucksport paper mill and the loss of 500 jobs, workers were stunned and a collective groan of dismay rippled through Maine’s forest products…
By JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future writer It’s perhaps fitting that the largest city in the most forested state in the nation should be nicknamed the Forest City. Of course, when Portland acquired that sobriquet, back in the 1800s, Maine and New England had a lot less forest. Portland has thousands of trees. Large…
By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer In a spruce-fir forest north of Bangor tall towers rise above the treetops, studded with instruments measuring everything from wind to carbon dioxide and methane. Another forest to the southeast gets regular doses of fertilizer while a patch nearby does not. In another chunk of forest on…
By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer With not quite 14,000 acres, the University Forests aren’t in the big leagues of Maine forestland owners. No Irving Woodlands or Plum Creek Timber Co, certainly. But with dozens of parcels scattered the length and breadth of Maine, it’s not exactly small time either. Some of the…
Educating lawmakers and public about one of Maine’s biggest industries When the Maine Legislature is in session Patrick J. Strauch spends a lot of his time at the state Capitol. The executive director of the Maine Forest Products Council, Strauch talks to legislators and testifies before committees. Not just the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry…
By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer Everyone who walks in the Maine woods has a story about wildlife — the deer that bounded through the clearing; the moose high-stepping onto the trail; the mother turkey leading a batch of poults through shafts of sunlight; pileated woodpeckers dancing on a downed log. But they’ve…
The Nature Conservancy blends conservation, logging in northern Maine The Nature Conservancy owns a lot of land in Maine: some 75 preserves covering about 300,000 acres. They range from isolated suburban preserves to large wetland complexes, small coastal islands to fire-adapted Paddling the Upper St. John River (Photo: TNC)shrublands, and the largest area of old growth…
Protecting Maine’s forest landscape through conservation easements By Joe RankinForests for Maine’s Future Writer Next year the Forest Society of Maine will reach the big 3-0. As in 30 years. Sometime in the next two or three years it will have another nice round number to celebrate — one million. Conserved lands on Moosehead…
