A Remarkable and Exciting Success – (not ours :))
It worked! One of PhD candidate Hankyu Kim’s backpack wearing Hermit Wablers flew to Mexico and back bringing data to help answer the puzzle of where they over winter. Here’s the more complete story: The heart of Hanku’s research is trying to expand knowledge about the ecology of Hermit Warblers, including answering the previously unanswered […]
Saved From Owls – by an Owl – Call?
In the spirit of providing a little escapist diversion during these challenging times, here is a recounting of a recent, intense forest adventure and learning experience. Fair warning, dear readers, the risk and danger that we felt and describe may not be well founded, but there is no way to know. On the evening of […]
Uplift in the Time of the Virus
Has the past week left you hungry for a little good news? If so, here’s some: These first hints of leafing out on this willow shoot are part of a larger, encouraging story. This uplifting window into spring (it has not been cancelled!) is thanks to work done in the winter of 2019 by students […]
Through the Eyes of Others
Since 1986 the Hyla Woods team has been most fortunate to learn from visitors to the forests. Some come from close at hand while others come from afar – including Chile’, Indonesia, France, Slovakia, England, Germany, New Zealand…… There is much that we learn from all of them. While we learn from from their descriptions […]
Who Knows Where the Wood Goes – And Comes From?
By now our regular readers know the drill. It goes something like this: An email alights in the Hyla Woods inbox asking whether we might be willing and able to provide wood for yet another off-the-beaten-track project. Against our better judgement we respond “perhaps – please tell us more about what you’re after….” The specific […]
Henry Needs Help!
Helping Henry – My cousin, Henry, is a determined and thoughtful person. I was reminded of this recently when he asked me the same question several times a year spread over three years. His is a good question and he, for good reason, kept asking it because I have yet to come up with an […]
State of the Creek Report 2019 – From Catlin Gabel School 7th Graders
2019 State of the Creek Report Catlin Gabel Class of 2025 Summer ends, school begins, maple and alder leaves drop to the forest floor…and the seventh-grade science students from Catlin Gabel School head to Hyla Woods for their annual assessment of Lousignont Creek. For seven years and counting, these student-scientists have flexed their newfound field […]
State of Wonder – In a Time of Wondering
This weekend over 100 of us gathered in our Timber Forest for the annual ritual of welcoming the Coho salmon home from their long and hard circuit of the Pacific and 1,000 foot, 100 mile climb up the Nehalem River. It is uplifting to consider how those before us did the same thing on the […]
When the Wonderful World Comes to Us
On the one hand, it is easy to imagine how the lives of Coast Range forest keepers (benign woodland creatures) could be closed in and provincial – focused on only our small world. While there is potential for that, for the Hyla Woods crew we’re fortunate to be avoiding that pitfall. Just yesterday the wide […]
Pasture to Oak Woodland Ecosystem Restoration – The Adventure Continues –
After investing twenty years and a few dollars and hours into ensuring that all oak in our Mt. Richmond Forest are free of the risk of being killed by over topping by light stealing fir, in 2016 we extended our stewardship of oak ecosystems to include working to reestablish oak ecosystems in a pasture from […]