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So far northwoods has created 346 blog entries.
19 04, 2016

NorthWoods Expands USFWS Youth Conservation Crews

2016-12-13T19:11:46-05:00April 19th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News|

The NorthWoods Stewardship Center has had a long-standing partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, managing Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) crews at National Wildlife Refuges across New England since 1999. Nearly 20 years later, the partnership continues to offer great potential at new locations. This year, NorthWoods will manage a YCC Crew at the Misissquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Swanton, VT and a YCC Crew Leader team at the Moosehorn NWR in Charlotte, ME. These crews are in addition to our current YCC crews at the Silvio O. Conte National Fish & Wildlife Refuge Nulhegan Basin [Read More...]

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19 04, 2016

Vermont’s Green Up Day

2016-12-13T19:11:47-05:00April 19th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News|

The first Green Up Day occurred in 1970, when Governor Deane C. Davis decided there should be a day dedicated to citizen-powered state cleanup. On that first Green Up Day, over 4,000 garbage truck loads were required to haul the trash that was picked up by Vermonters. Now, 46 years later, the tradition is still going strong with over 40,000 bags of trash collected annually! Green Up Vermont, like NorthWoods, is a 503(c) non-profit organization. It was started in 1979 to organize the annual litter gathering and distribute special trash bags. The people of Green [Read More...]

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19 04, 2016

Trail Guidelines for Mud Season

2016-12-13T19:11:47-05:00April 19th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News|

It is mud season in the Northeast Kingdom and NorthWoods is discouraging hikers from damaging local trail during this transitional time of year. In northern Vermont mud season comes early and ends late, often extending into June—much later than other parts of the state. The impacts of hiking during mud season are significant and they should be minimized during any wet spell, not just in the spring. Fragile soils, plants, loose slopes, access roads and parking areas are all more susceptible to rutting, compaction and erosion at this time of year. To reduce impacts to [Read More...]

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24 03, 2016

This Week in the Woods: Sugaring Season

2016-12-13T19:11:47-05:00March 24th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, This Week in the Woods|

Warm days and cold nights make that sap run! But why? During the day, when temperatures rise above freezing, pressure develops inside of the tree. This pressure wants to release, and can do so by pushing sap out of an opening (such as the ones that we create). As temperatures fall during the night, suction (or negative pressure) develops within the tree. This causes the roots to take in large quantities of water, which can be used to replenish the sap. This replenished sap will flow again during the next warm [Read More...]

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24 03, 2016

This Week in the Woods: Winter Precipitation

2016-12-13T19:11:47-05:00March 24th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, This Week in the Woods|

This winter we have seen a lot less snow, and a lot more rain, than usual. While the immediate effects of this weather difference are apparent, especially recreationally, the long term impacts may be harder to see. As spring arrives, there will be less snow melt (due to minimal snow) than what we may be used to. Snow melt from alpine zones, which lags behind lower elevations, serves as an important water source for many places (especially in the western United States). Precipitation falling as rain is available for only a [Read More...]

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25 02, 2016

NorthWoods Staff Lead Sterling College Backcountry Course

2016-02-25T10:20:12-05:00February 25th, 2016|Education, Highlights, News|

Sterling College's Winter Intensive provides students with the opportunity to dig deep into a subject, and only that subject, for two straight weeks. For students in my course, while the snowpack was on the thin side, we certainly dug in to backcountry skiing in Vermont. We found snow in likely places when we left the lowlands, and reached the summits of Mt. Mansfield, Bald Mtn, and the ridge of the Bolton Trapps Traverse under the power of our muscles and skins attached to our skis.  We enjoyed snow made soft by rain, [Read More...]

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23 02, 2016

This Week in the Woods: the Polar Vortex

2016-12-13T19:11:48-05:00February 23rd, 2016|This Week in the Woods|

A polar vortex, as intimidating as it sounds, is really just a pocket of cold air and low pressure surrounding both the North and South poles. It is actually always there, though it is rare that we, here in New England, get to experience its chilling effects. The “Vortex” refers to a counter-clockwise spinning of the pressure system which acts to centralize it over the poles. I say “over” because this weather is actually occurring tens of thousands of feet above the earth’s surface. Every so often, the polar vortex swells [Read More...]

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23 02, 2016

This Week in the Woods: A Look Through the Ice

2016-12-13T19:11:48-05:00February 23rd, 2016|Highlights, News, This Week in the Woods|

It may be common knowledge that water freezes at 32°F, and that water, unlike most things, expands as it freezes. We, as residents of winter, have a complicated relationship with ice. What glory it brings when fishing and skating, and what frustration, when it covers our roads and windshields. What you may not know is that the ice on our ponds and lakes (though lately it has been looking a bit thin…) actually began to form in late summer of 2015. As temperatures begin to drop, the top layer of water [Read More...]

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23 02, 2016

This Week in the Woods: Snow Roller Phenomenon

2016-12-13T19:11:48-05:00February 23rd, 2016|This Week in the Woods|

Have you ever been lucky enough to witness this rare phenomenon? It appears as though children have been hard at work creating dozens of snow balls, yet leaving behind not a single footprint. These formations, known as “snow rollers”, form when the top layer of snow picks up and is blown across a relatively flat surface. Optimal conditions for snow rollers include sticky (but not wet) snow, and astrong and steady wind. The wind must be strong enough to continue to push the snow, but not strong enough to destroy the [Read More...]

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25 01, 2016

This Week in the Woods: The Journey of the Snow Bunting

2016-12-13T19:11:54-05:00January 25th, 2016|This Week in the Woods|

Most commonly we may think of winter as a time when birds migrate AWAY from the chilly Northeast, but there are actually some species that migrate south TO Vermont as their desired place to spend the winter. The Snow Bunting is a small songbird with mostly white plumage with some brown and black on the back and face. The males will leave Vermont in early April to establish their breeding territories. The females won’t follow until about six weeks later. Their preferred winter habitat is in open weedy or grassy fields. [Read More...]

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Mailing Address

PO Box 220, East Charleston, VT 05833

Get in Touch

Email: info@northwoodscenter.org

Main Phone: 802.723.6551

Office & Administration ext: 301
Conservation Science & Forestry ext: 302
Education & Outreach ext: 303
Conservation Corps ext: 304

Or visit our Contact page for more ways to get in touch with our staff.


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Funding for the development of this website was made possible in part by the Rural Business Enterprise Grant through the Vermont Community Loan Fund from USDA Rural Development.
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