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…
By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer A few years ago the Greater Lovell Land Trust in the Kezar Lakes region of western Maine was considering merging with the local watershed organization It was an idea that had been around for years and it seemed like an ideal match: preserving land, protecting water. But…
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…
Woodland Steward Program’s creators ponder how to boost enrollment By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer Cory Gardiner’s woodlot in Woolwich has been in the family for 90 years. Larry Beauregard has owned his woodland in Old Town since 1980. And Julie Foyt’s 40 acres of woods in Monmouth became hers only year before…
By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer It was a hot July day in the 1970s. Dave Struble was back home in Island Falls, on a day off from his job as a regional entomologist for the Maine Forest Service. But it was too hot to do much, and he suggested to his…
By Joe RankinForests for Maine’s Future Writer Pam Wells has patience.When she’s in search of the perfect photo she can wait hours, in some disheartening conditions. She’s not Bobcat (All photos courtesy Pam Wells)shooting brides or weddings or newborn babies or products. She’s photographing the natural world. And she knows there are a lot…
New composites, nanocellulose coatings, liquid fuels are on the horizon By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer Dwane Hutto is obviously enjoying himself. He has just described a fairly complicated chemical process that started with ground up trees and produced a dark liquid in a vial that he holds high so everyone can see…
A talk with the author of “The Changing Nature of the Maine Woods” Andrew Barton grew up Asheville, in the mountains of North Carolina, and as a boy of 8 or 9 he was fascinated by salamanders, lizards and snakes. “My mom wouldn’t let me keep any in the house, which I think just stoked…
A new online course can help you enjoy and manage your woodland By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer Picture this: Three generations of a family huddled around a computer screen, reading, talking, and answering questions online. No, they’re not facebooking, skyping or playing the latest space aliens shoot ’em up game…
