Registration is OPEN for our 2019 Summer Camps. This year features a few additions and changes to our normal line-up, but as always there will be plenty of outdoor adventures by boot, boat, and bike in the mountains and waterways of the Northeast Kingdom! Click below to check them out! Register for Camps!
NorthWoods Stewardship Center is pleased to accept nominations for the third annual George Buzzell Forest Stewardship Award. In honor of the esteemed county forester for which it is named, this award recognizes an individual who is making a positive impact on Northeast Kingdom forests. The award will be given at the Annual Stewardship Celebration at NorthWoods, on Friday, October 23rd. During his 44 years as Orleans County Forester, George Buzzell exemplified the best practice of his trade, including research that helped to re-define sugarbush management in Vermont. George also cast a welcoming net — encouraging education and inviting the [Read More...]
NorthWoods was recently recognized by the Forest Guild for our work in the Lydia Spitzer Demonstration Forest with our enrollment in the Forest Guild Model Forest program. The mission of the Model Forest program is to "recognize places, people, and relationships that foster sustainable forest management and demonstrate successful silviculture," falling in perfect alignment with our own goals for the Spitzer Forest. Becoming part of the Model Forest program involved a written application, submission of management and certification documents, and a late-winter site visit with a review committee of Vermont Guild [Read More...]
NorthWoods' flowerbeds benefit insects and birds and provide a beautiful backdrop for school programs, camps and community events. We rely on volunteer help to keep them looking their best. Our neighbor and favorite green-thumb Sue Dwelle has started the spring clean-up and made a list of projects for the season. If you would enjoy gardening for a good cause, please get in touch with Colleen (802-723-6551 x301) about scheduling and garden needs. You are welcome to garden on your own as weather and free time permit, or we can put you in [Read More...]
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 [Read More...]
On the heels of the newly enacted Vermont Shoreland Protection Act, our Conservation Science staff recently presented a shoreline buffering workshop for the Echo Lake Association. Landowners around the lake learned about riparian tree and shrub plantings completed by NorthWoods (a service available to landowners, and eligible for grant funding), as well as other innovative techniques such as infiltration steps, rainwater gardens and creative landscaping with native plants. Although NorthWoods has planted tens of thousands of trees along streams and lakes over the years, much remains to be done! Contact us [Read More...]
Looking for ways to be involved in your community while protecting Vermont's environment? Get a jump on spring with these upcoming events at NorthWoods! Through training and action, you will have the opportunity to Make a Difference in the world around you. Visit our events calendar for more information or to sign up for a program. Click the image at right to view larger, or print to distribute in your community!
Principal Martha Dubuque, The St. Johnsbury School as appeared in Catamount Corner, February 4 2013 Winter greetings! In this column, I often recognize the very special students at St. Johnsbury School. I would like this week to celebrate our middle school students. This year the middle school is partnering with the NorthWoods Stewardship Center to provide students with some outdoor experiences to build science knowledge and promote teamwork skills. After a recent trip to NorthWoods, students wrote reflections explaining how the experience was beneficial. Here are some of their thoughts. [Read More...]
Thinking Like a Woodcock (or Salmon): Understanding Conservation Goals Maria Young, Education & Outreach Coordinator Stratford students at work in the Silvio O. Conte Wildlife Refuge (Oct 2012). Hard at work with loppers, bow saw, and a swing blade, one eighth grade student from Stratford, New Hampshire paused to share the complexities of conservation work as he had begun to see them, “Last spring, we were planting trees. Now, we are cutting trees down.” Through the Nulhegan Watershed Conservation and Education Initiative, supported by grant funding from the National [Read More...]
Synaptomys cooperi photo credit: animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/ ID Small, robust, short legs, large head, very short tail Long, shaggy fur Mixed brown, gray, and black upper parts with a little bit of dark yellow Silverish gray underparts (Whitaker) Distribution Reproduction Young can be produced in any month, but less commonly in the winter months Gestation takes 23 to 26 days with litters of 1 to 8 young Females can produce multiple litters in a year (Whitaker) Behavior Often share burrows with other small mammals of different species Build nests of [Read More...]
