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Fresh From the Woods… 2010-2020
- Threats, Challenges Facing Maine’s ForestsForests have always faced threats. From natural disturbances like hurricanes and wildfires to native pests…
- Trees and Winter…..Warming temperatures, less snowfall pose new challenges for northeastern species Winter can be a challenge….
- Pinning down Maine’s future forestBy Joe RankinForests for Maine’s Future writer Forests aren’t static. They’re dynamic. Since trees colonized…
- Fall Foliage Brings the Green to MaineBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer Autumn, or at least the fall…
- White Pines Hit by Needle Disease Year After YearBy JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future Writer Something’s not right. That’s what my MacBook…
- Planting yourself in the forest “Green” burials are a growing thingHave you ever noticed how many cemeteries have the word forest in their name? Forest…
- The American elm: Past, present . . . future?Years ago I planted an American elm in my yard. I was creating what my…
- Make a Home for Wildlife with the Help of Author Charles FergusCharles Fergus loves nothing better than to rev up his walk-behind DR brush hog and…
- Ferns: Beauty and Grace in the Understory“Outdoors” people, even those that don’t consider themselves naturalists, can identify trees, at the least…
- Deer yards: Shelter from the stormIt’s not easy being a whitetail deer in Maine in the winter, especially northern Maine….
- Aging Sentinels: the roadside maples of MaineTravel the rural roads in this part of the country and you’ll see them along…
- Old-Growth Forests: Back to the Future?There’s no question that old growth forests are fairly uncommon, especially in the eastern parts…
- Whatever Happened to Acid Rain?Human-caused climate change is THE environmental issue of our times. Alarming reports point out that…
- Moosehead Lake RegionThe Moosehead Lake area has been a destination for a long time. Native Americans came…
- Forest Management in the big cityA thinned white pine stand photo courtesy of City of PortlandTwo years ago, logging crews…
- The Nature Conservancy makes a bet on carbonLumber, as any tree and forest lover can tell you, isn’t the only valuable thing…
- Is Southern Pine Beetle in Maine’s FutureBy Joe Rankin, Forests for Maine’s Future Writer Editors Note: This story was originally published…
- Exemplary Forestry: A New Paradigm for the Northeast’s Woodlands?Robert Perschel has worked in forestry for a long time. As an industrial forester, a…
- CLT: The Great Wood HopePeople have been gluing up wood for thousands of years. Prehistoric peoples bonded spear points…
- Timber Framing: Ancient Art for a New AgeBack in the day, John Sweet Jr. was an ironworker who helped build paper mills….
- Maine Wood Manufacturers are still an Important Part of the EconomyThey produce gun stocks, flooring, cedar shingles, log homes, wooden playsets. They make cigar tips,…
- Invasive Plants in MaineThere are a lot of threats to Maine forests — fragmentation, poor forestry practices, development,…
- Forest Fires in Maine: History and OutlookThis was the year the West burned. The numbers are mind-boggling: By the end of…
- Maine Heritage Timber: Retrieving Old Growth Wood from a LakeTom Shafer’s business is mining trees. It’s not really harvesting; maybe re-harvesting. “Recovering a forgotten…
- The Forest Understory: Diverse. Dynamic. DifficultWild sarsaparilla is not a flashy forest dweller. It doesn’t soar overhead, or have showy…
- Alan Hutchinson: A Legacy of Forest LandscapeAlan Hutchinson was always thinking. Thinking about ways to approach things differently, to bring people…
- SFI Project Volunteers Build Two Playhouses for 2017 Make-A-Wish Foundation RecipientsThe Maine forest industry’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative has helped out on a lot of community…
- North Maine Woods: Managing recreation on a sizable chunk of MainePhoto courtesy of North Maine WoodsThere is the north Maine woods: the vast expanse of…
- Succession: How a forest recreates itselfBy Joe Rankin A forest, like all living things, is constantly changing. Sometimes the changes…
- Up and Down: Layers of the ForestThe forest — any forest, really — doesn’t just stretch out across the land like…
- The Eastern U.S.: Just Gotta Be a Forest?By Joe Rankin Predominantly forested has been the steady state of Maine’s landscape for the…
- Aldo Leopold Week is Celebrated the First Week in MarchThe party was eating lunch on a high rimrock when they saw the mother wolf…
- Winter: A Time to get to know your Forest Neighbors by their TracksThere’s something about the winter woods — the profound silence, the sheer whiteness. Snow whispering…
- “Old Growth” Forests Defined by Key Ecological CharacteristicsBy JOE RANKIN There is something about big trees that stirs up a feeling…
- Maine’s Most Common Tree, a Favorite of Deer and PestsBy JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future writer Quickly now. This is a quiz….
- For This Wood Pellet Manufacturer, Small is BeautifulErik Carlson remembers exactly where he was when he got the idea of getting into…
- Budworm CommunicationsIt’s safe to say that things have changed since the 1970s and 1980s, when the…
- Climate Change, Drought, and the Northern ForestBy Joe Rankin, published August 2016 Much of the southern half of Maine is dry….
- Spruce Budworm Population Tracked by Landowners Across Northeast Pheremone Traps Help to Gather DataBrett Mitchell has a vested interest in keeping tabs on the population of spruce budworm…
- What is a healthy forest?By JOE RANKIN You’re in a store, say, and you look around you at the…
- Students and Others Prepare for the Next Spruce Budworm OutbreakBy Joe RankinForests for Maine’s Future Writer It’s not every educator who sees a teaching…
- Forestry for the birdsBy JOE RANKIN, Forests for Maine’s Future Writer In 1962 Rachel Carson’s classic enviro-expose Silent…
- Mechanical harvesting — The future is hereBy JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future Writer You could tell where George Merrill was…
- The white pine, enduring symbol of the Maine woodsBy JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future Writer What’s not to like about the eastern…
- Bright spots in Maine’s forest products industryNew mills, investments and products help offset losses in some sectors By JOE RANKIN Forests…
- Southern Maine’s Future ForestFactors at play today will help create the woods of the 22nd century By JOE…
- Urban Forests — More Important Now Than EverBy JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future writer It’s perhaps fitting that the largest city…
- Maine is a leader in conservation easementsBy JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future Writer On the west side of the…
- Aliens in the Maine woodsTerrestrial invasive plants can wreak havoc with forests By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future…
- Helping map the future of MaineBy JOE RANKIN Forests for Maine’s Future Writer At one time or another we’ve all…
- The Long View: Three studies of the Maine forestBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer In a spruce-fir forest north of Bangor…
- University Forests: Research, education and incomeBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer With not quite 14,000 acres, the University…
- Educating educators about the Maine woodsTeachers’ Tours provide a close up view of the forest and the forest economy …
- Maine Moose: How are they doing?By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer Most visitors to Maine probably have a…
- CFRU: Real world forestry researchBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer The research topics are varied. From what…
- Emerald ash borer: a voracious pest nears MaineBy Joe Ranki, Forests for Maine’s Future writer November 2013 When the emerald ash borer…
- Maine’s Forest Economy: a new reportBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer Stand on almost any hill in…
- Carbon offsets: A new forest ‘product’?By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer Over the centuries the only way to…
- The Maine Forest Products CouncilEducating lawmakers and public about one of Maine’s biggest industries When the Maine Legislature…
- Bringing back the giantsThe effort to restore the American chestnut tree to Maine’s forest By Joe Rankin…
- Trail cameras give you a new window on the woodsBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer Everyone who walks in the Maine woods…
- Maine Land Trust Network: It’s all about connectionBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer A few years ago the Greater Lovell…
- The St. John Forest experimentThe Nature Conservancy blends conservation, logging in northern Maine The Nature Conservancy owns a lot of…
- The Forest Society of MaineProtecting Maine’s forest landscape through conservation easements By Joe RankinForests for Maine’s Future Writer …
- Good reviews for online forestry programWoodland Steward Program’s creators ponder how to boost enrollment By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s…
- Spruce budworm: Coming again soon?By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer It was a hot July day…
- Nature photography: A new way of seeing the woodsBy Joe RankinForests for Maine’s Future Writer Pam Wells has patience.When she’s in search…
- The Future of Forest Products in Maine TourNew composites, nanocellulose coatings, liquid fuels are on the horizon By Joe Rankin Forests for…
- Maine’s forests: past, present and future . . .A talk with the author of “The Changing Nature of the Maine Woods” Andrew Barton…
- The Woodland Steward ProgramA new online course can help you enjoy and manage your woodland By Joe…
- The Maine Woods (plural)There are many forest types in the Pine Tree State By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future…
- The fascinating process of tree decayBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer For trees, the forest is…
- There’s an app for that: can technology reconnect us to nature?By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer In the video the…
- Sappi Westbrook: Papermaking on the fashion frontierA venerable paper mill is the world leader in release papers By Joe Rankin Forests…
- Maine’s public lands: recreation, wildlife habitat, timberThese parcels aren’t as well known as the state’s parks, but that’s changing By Joe Rankin…
- Learning about the woods: places to go, things to see . . .By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer Cathy Goslin vividly remembers a…
- Where the wood flows . . . and whyBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future writer You’re driving down a Maine…
- Land conservation: still going strongDespite the down economy, landowners and the public are still eager to ensure the future of Maine’s…
- The modern sawmill: a high tech marvelBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer Watching the edger-optimizer at Robbins Lumber Co.’s…
- Forest products: it’s not all about logsBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer As a young boy in the 1940s…
- Once and Future Uses of WoodBy Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer In the mid-’60s Eric Sloane wrote “A…
- Aging forest owners: What will become of their woods?By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer Jim walked slowly up the path, as he…
- A forest stewardship state of mindAllen Higgins and Josiah Pierce talk about caring for the land By JOE RANKIN Forests…
- Penobscot Experimental Forest: Six decades of scienceJuly 2011 By Joe RankinForests for Maine’s Future Writer On a recent summer day, while…
- Exotic forest pests: the danger is realFresh from the Woods By Joe Rankin Forests for Maine’s Future Writer June 2011…
- Bernd Heinrich: Writer, academic, Maine forestland ownerFresh from the Woods Bernd Heinrich: Writer, academic, Maine forestland owner May 2011 It’s easy…
- The Underground ForestFresh from the Woods The Underground Forest April 2011 By Joe Rankin Walking in the forest…
- The Forest BookshelfThe Forest BookshelfMarch 2011 By Joe Rankin Today Henry David Thoreau is best remembered for…
- Sweet time for Maine’s syrup producersFebruary 2011 By Joe Rankin Mention maple syrup season and the image that leaps to…
- Community Forests: an old idea that’s new againForest scene on Branch Lake land in Ellsworth. Photo courtesy of Jerry and Marcy Monkman, Ecophotography.org…
- Trails from the 21st CenturyFresh from the Woods Trails for the 21st century December 2010 By JOE RANKIN It’s a…
- Seeing the People Behind the TreesFresh from the Woods Seeing the people behind the trees By JOE RANKIN A few…
- Prentiss & Carlisle: a proud history of forest stewardshipFresh from the Woods Prentiss & Carlisle president Donald White, left, Gov. John Baldacci, and…
- Maine Seeks $25 million for ConservationFresh from the Woods North Maine woods Maine seeks $25 million for conservation By Joe…
- Keeping Maine’s Forests IIFresh from the Woods Sustainably harvested logs are loaded in the Scientific Forest Management Area…
- BiomassFresh from the Woods Producing energy from woodland ‘biomass’ could — over time — add…
- Keeping Maine’s Forests IFresh from the Woods Sunrise at Haymock Lake in northern Maine. (Photos by Andrew Kekacs)…
- The Nimble ForestFresh from the Woods A shaft of sunlight pierces a stand of red spruce growing…
- The Forested LandscapeFresh from the Woods Author Tom Wessels stands on a pile of stones in Brooks…
- North Maine WoodsFresh from the Woods A group of hikers nears the summit of White Cap Mountain…