Water and Forests

Anyone who studies rivers knows that the land cover in a watershed is the number one predictor of the health of a river.

Invasive Plants- Phragmites

By now, knowledge that invasive plants are bad news is pretty widespread. Numerous articles and agencies cite “billions of dollars” in damages annually to agriculture and fisheries; they are the “leading cause” of population decline and extinction in animals.

Below the Surface- Returning Home

It seemed like just another spring day when we stopped at the Salmon River, a tidewater tributary of the Connecticut River that splits the towns of Haddam and East Haddam, Connecticut.

Below the Surface – Restoring Fish Runs

It seemed like just another spring day when we stopped at the Salmon River, a tidewater tributary of the Connecticut River that splits the towns of Haddam and East Haddam, Connecticut.

The Hunter-Conservationist

By John Buck Walking slowly through the forest of sugar maple, white ash, and yellow birch, our path skirted the edge of a farm field abandoned long ago. My good friend Tim and I were in the wee hours of daylight of our first outing during Vermont’s Ruffed Grouse season. Even stronger than our high regard for this forest-dwelling, chicken …

Invasive Plants – Oriental Bittersweet

By now, knowledge that invasive plants are bad news is pretty widespread. Numerous articles and agencies cite “billions of dollars” in damages annually to agriculture and fisheries; they are the “leading cause” of population decline and extinction in animals.

The Battle for Fenwick’s Shoreline

Surrounded by water on three sides -most dramatically by the Connecticut River to the north and east and by Long Island Sound to the south—the Borough of Fenwick is on the front lines of climate change.

Japanese Barberry

By now, knowledge that invasive plants are bad news is pretty widespread. Numerous articles and agencies cite “billions of dollars” in damages annually to agriculture and fisheries; they are the “leading cause” of population decline and extinction in animals.

My Forest Romance With Nyssa

Nyssa was a Greek nymph, and sylvatica means “of the forest.” So I will use feminine pronouns in this arboreal essay.

Dam Removals

It seemed like just another spring day when we stopped at the Salmon River, a tidewater tributary of the Connecticut River that splits the towns of Haddam and East Haddam, Connecticut.

Mother Trees

“Happy families are all alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” began Tolstoy in his novel Anna Karenina. Take a walk in the woods and you will see trees of different sizes and species reaching up towards the sunlight. One would think that there is a fierce competition between the trees to get to the top of the canopy.

Plant a Tree Help a Fish

Fish restoration in the river depends, to a significant extent, upon its forests and the management thereof.

Wild & Scenic Eightmile River

Bingham, 80, has spied many splendored things along the Eightmile River through the decades: such as otter and mink, cerulean warblers and bald eagles, bobcat and black bear scat.

A Beauty and A Beast

By now, knowledge that invasive plants are bad news is pretty widespread. Numerous articles and agencies cite “billions of dollars” in damages annually to agriculture and fisheries; they are the “leading cause” of population decline and extinction in animals.

A Once and Future Sanctuary

In summertime, looking across the Sound, my thoughts turn to Plum Island, New York. I believe this island could be designated a public park and nature sanctuary into perpetuity if accompanied by various restoration imperatives.

Field Notes from the Osprey’s Garden

For a week, I “mirrored” the contents of 24 nest poles in the Great Island osprey colony. I use a light convex bicycle mirror on the end of a long, curved bamboo wand. Standing on the salt marsh below a 12-foot-high nest platform, with my arms raised, I could check the progress of each nest.

The Perils of Japanese Knotweed

It would be hard to proclaim which plant wins as the worst terrestrial invasive species in the US, but Japanese Knotweed, Polygonum cuspidatum, is a clear contender.

Hydrilla

By now, knowledge that invasive plants are bad news is pretty widespread. Numerous articles and agencies cite “billions of dollars” in damages annually to agriculture and fisheries; they are the “leading cause” of population decline and extinction in animals.