Recognizing Women: Jenee Smith

“What brought Ray and I to the woods?” Jenee Smith ponders the question. Logging had been part of her husband Ray Brewster’s life from a young age, while Smith had grown up cutting trees, pulling brush, and splitting firewood with her six siblings. “As a baby, my mom would put me in a stroller and the sound of a chainsaw would put me to sleep. To this day, I can’t help but start yawning when I hear a chainsaw.”

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Should We Manage Forests?

As active stewards of forests in our region, we are often called to respond in support of our profession. This
might come in the case of daily sales of our services, or just interacting with a neighbor. Better yet, we might have an opportunity to speak at a local school, or some public meeting. National Forests and State Forestry Departments sometimes seek public input for general plans, or specific projects. The other guys are going to show up, and they tend to be quite
passionate – we all have a story to tell.

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Forest Industry Trends and Forecasts 2024

The forest industry across the Northeast is in a bit of a slump
– things aren’t necessarily bad, but it certainly isn’t a time of expansion and profitability. This is a huge shift from a year ago when many markets were booming, mills were looking everywhere for wood, and the supply chain was stretched to its limits. Here’s a look at what is happening by sector.

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Dartmouth College’s “Forest to Dorm” Project

At the start of this fall semester, students who moved into Dartmouth College’s Andres Hall were greeted with beautiful brand-new wooden furniture made from trees harvested on Dartmouth’s own land. Each student in the dorm was issued a bed, desk, dresser, and bookcase made from sugar maple cut last winter on Dartmouth’s Second College Grant, (the Grant), a 27,000-acre tract located in northern New Hampshire.

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Education That’s Never Finished: The Vermont Forest Business School

Is education something that can be finished? Shouldn’t continuous learning be a habit, rather than a requirement?
The Vermont Forest Business School’s (FBS) six-month Essentials program was built from lessons learned in two hundred or so single-day workshops I taught for loggers, foresters, and landowners over 24 years. Teaching workshops in far-flung places like Aroostook County, Maine, and Hocking College in Ohio exposed me to many different people with similar educational needs in the forest products community.

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When a Large Timberland Owner Decides to Sell Carbon Instead of Cutting Timber: Controversy in Northern New Hampshire

The new owner of private land in northern New Hampshire plans to curtail logging on the property in lieu of selling carbon. In the July 2023 issue of the Northern Logger, I wrote that forest carbon markets are not affecting timber availability yet because there are so few acres under carbon projects in the US relative to the amount of forest being managed for timber.

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