One early spring day, shortly after Northern Woodlands moved to our Lyme office, reader Joe Longacre showed up at our door with a bouquet of freshly cut pussy willows. I was touched by this gesture and decided to plant some of the stems in a muddy ravine near my house. I wish I could report that Joe’s willows sprouted into shrubs full of catkins and happy bees, but they did not. My children dubbed them, “Mom’s mud sticks.” A few years later, a friend presented me with more pussy willow stems. I murdered those, too.
I’m going to make a third try, following Alicia Houk’s directions in the Knots & Bolts section of this issue. Alicia, the founder of Wild Garden Alliance, is a passionate advocate for restoring native plants and insects to residential landscapes. Her article complements Kenrick Vezina’s essay on queen bumble bees, and has me thinking about other opportunities to promote pollinators around my home.
In these pages, you’ll find nature topics from both ends of the season, from bobcat courtship and fairy shrimp to violet foraging and broad-winged hawk migration. Michael Caduto shares information about April’s astronomical “double-header.” Alexandra Kosiba is back with the next article in our forest carbon and climate series, including a look at the May 18, 2023 frost event that affected parts of our region.
Appropriate to the season, there’s also a theme of recovery and beginnings. Ben Lord considers a new, post-pandemic era for outdoor classrooms. Susan Shea hikes through land recently conserved by the Northeast Wilderness Trust, in support of the “30% by 2030” conservation goal. Orphaned black bears get a second chance at life at Kilham Bear Center, and Associate Editor Meghan McCarthy McPhaul discovers her true calling as a “cub warmer.”
I’m especially proud of the first feature article in this issue. With support from the Bailey Charitable Foundation, we sent writer Mark Hayward and photographer Jodie Andruskevich to document a free bus service in Manchester, New Hampshire, that provides city residents who lack transportation with access to natural areas. The idea for this service began with city alderman Will Stewart, who had read about a similar program in Seattle. This connection reminds me, yet again, of something a wise person told me when I first joined Northern Woodlands: stories have a special power to inspire good in the world. I’m so grateful to have been part of this work for almost 12 years.
Which leads to some personal news, and another kind of beginning: this summer, I’ll step down as executive director of the Center for Northern Woodlands Education. The reason is a new family caregiving need that simply isn’t compatible with managing the nonprofit. Although this has been a difficult decision, I also think that, with our 30th anniversary arriving this summer, now is a natural time for the next person to take the reins. This will be a gradual transition; along with Meghan, I’ll edit the next several issues of the magazine, and I look forward to staying connected with the Northern Woodlands community.
In the “About” section of our homepage, there’s a link to the job posting. Please take a look, and if you know any outstanding potential candidates, send them our way!