WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Spent a week in Upton, Long Island with CFA field staff at the New York Wildfire & Incident Management Training Academy. We took the S-130 & S-190 courses which represent Basic Wildland Firefighter training. It taught entry-level wildland firefighter skills and is often requiredContinue Reading

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Been looking for acorns. This year I’m finding the acorn crop–mainly red oak–to be quite spotty. Actually, this seems to be beneficial to hunting deer since on years with abundant acorns, it can be difficult to predict where deer will be eating them. But,Continue Reading

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Been getting some complaints from members of CFA that they’re not seeing too many birds around their bird feeder recently. I’m unsure exactly of the reason, but perhaps its due in part from the abundance of wild fruit. Seems like there is plenty ofContinue Reading

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Each year on my camping trip, I hit a small stand of old growth hemlock trees pretty high up in elevation. I used to hit another stand farther down, but those trees have unfortunately succumbed to hemlock woolly adelgid. This higher stand remains adelgid-free.Continue Reading

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Some of the black cherry trees really are having a bumper crop this year. While hiking in the higher elevations of the Catskills last week, I actually could smell cherries on the forest floor fermenting. I guess not even the bears could keep upContinue Reading

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Got a chance to go camping up on the mountain for several days last week. I normally take a few photos of noteworthy trees here & there while I walk about. This balsam fir’s will to survive is real. Just look how it shootsContinue Reading

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Something I wish I knew more about was how to age barbed wire. I bet someone out there can look at how the wire is put together and decipher when it was made. This would be helpful or interesting to me since so manyContinue Reading

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? I constantly look for reasons or excuses to be in the woods. I find “shanging” a good one. This plant likes to hide like no other, but I tend to believe that one needs to be almost over it to notice it. It likesContinue Reading

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? One thing I value more each year are the abundance of springs in our forests. Not only for drinking of course but as “healing waters.” Any pain in your wrist, hands, or feet can be alleviated by these cold waters. Inflammation occurs while hiking,Continue Reading

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? I hear it’s been hot as hell in other parts of the US, but this summer in the Catskills hasn’t been too bad. In fact, my family only visited the stream once to swim; It just hasn’t been balmy & in the 90s tooContinue Reading