As part of a UVM forest research project, a field crew of four graduate and undergraduate students recently visited the Spitzer Demonstration Forest to assess forest structure and species in our Forestry for the Birds demonstration harvests. Three harvest areas (about 55 acres total) were treated in the winter of 2012-13 using guidelines developed by Audubon Vermont, foresters, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, with the goal of diversifying bird habitat while improving timber value. Armed with measuring tapes, GPS units, sampling quadrats, prisms, clinometers, spherical densiometers and rain gear, the intrepid crew measured structural attributes and recorded plant species in each treatment area for two days. UVM professor Dr. William Keeton and his students plan to visit several Forestry for the Birds sites throughout Vermont in the coming years; stay tuned to hear more about how NorthWoods fits into their research!