Music in the Trees: Swiss Resonance Wood

n the Jura Mountains of Switzerland is a farm woodlot managed for individual spruce trees of the highest quality. It is a fascinating example of very intensive irregular aged management following a silviculture system ...
Managing quality spruce has applicability for Maine woodlot owners given the reduction in spruce pulpwood markets.

There are also American musical instrument makers buying some fine spruce logs from the Northeast for resonance wood.

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Forest ManagementStaff
Spring a Good Time for Tree Investigations

The transition into spring provides a special window of opportunity for reinforcing connections with our woodlots....Enjoy wildflowers along the forest floor and look up for the emerging catkins of the male poplar trees. Tree flowers tend to occur during the latter part of spring, but keep an eye out for them as you pass by emerging growth. Pull down a limb of red maple (Acer rubrum) for a closer look at their showy flowers .

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SilvicultureStaff
Four Course Forestry Event Served Up at Pine Tree Camp

The drumming of a grouse in the distance. A trailside tree peppered with rings of yellow bellied sapsucker pecking holes. The cry, like a squeaky wheel, of a black and white warbler as it flitted by. The forest at Pine Tree Camp in Rome was filled with bird trills last Saturday during the Women and Our Woods Outdoor Workshop.

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WildlifeStaff
Pileated Woodpeckers Vocal Woodlot Companions

It would be quiet if it weren’t for the ... almost non-stop “wuk wuk wuk” from three pileated woodpeckers. Their volume matches their large bodies. “ We have a resident pair as well as a third bird that’s spending the winter. Pileated woodpeckers have a 150- to 200-acre territory, so owners of smaller woodlots won’t have many pairs. It isn’t unusual to have more than one pair in winter, but come spring the visitors will be driven away if they don’t leave voluntarily.

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WildlifeStaff
Tom Doak Discusses Large Game Management on Public Radio

Tom Doak, the executive director of Maine Woodland Owners, was a guest speaker this week on Maine Calling, a Maine Public Radio program. The topic was "Maine's Big Game Wildlife Plan." The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is currently working on rewriting the plan. To listen to a recording of the program, click here.

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OtherStaff
Maine Woodland Owners' List of Maine Sawmills

Maine Woodland Owners has compiled a list of both portable and stationary sawmills in the state of Maine, modeled after the list that had been produced by The Maine Forest Service. This updated list of sawmills provides information about services and products, locations, and contact information. To see the list, click here.

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Staff
The Ten Biggest Mistakes, Revisited

Tom Doak of Maine Woodland Owners has done many presentations on his list of “The Ten Biggest Mistakes Woodland Owners Make.” Here is a new list to think about: “The Ten Biggest Mistakes Woodland Owners Make When Having a Harvest.” The two lists overlap some. I’ll share the story of one of those calls I don’t like to get, as a reminder of certain things to think about when planning to have your woodlot harvested. This is a true story, though without some of the identifying details.

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Forest ManagementStaff