Maple trees turn golden along the Hoosic River in Williamstown in November. Photo by Kate Abbott

Nature

Here are the Hill Country Observer’s articles about nature, listed from newest to oldest. In the country, the living world of our forests, mountains and lakes influence our communities and our daily lives. The Hull Country Observer explores stories of the environment and the landscape in a changing climate.

  • Issue:

    Building a grass-fed future

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    Beef farmers band together for access to new markets and new hope By TRACY FRISCH Contributing writer   HEBRON, N.Y.At first glance, Sarah Teale seems an unlikely person to organize an agricultural cooperative for small-scale producers of grass-fed beef. She lives in Manhattan, where she has a successful documentary filmmaking career and her own production read more

    Building a grass-fed future
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    Power center? Utility pushes to make Rutland the Northeast’s solar capital

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    By CRAIG IDLEBROOK Contributing writer RUTLAND, Vt.The 3-acre lot at the end of Cleveland Avenue was until recently considered unsuitable for development. The property on the western edge of Rutland was a brownfield, its soil contaminated by a coal gasification plant that occupied the site decades ago. The area is considered a blighted section of read more

    Power center? Utility pushes to make Rutland the Northeast’s solar capital
  • Issue:

    Songbird’s decline fuels climate-change debate

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    Groups seek endangered-species status for Bicknell’s thrush By CRAIG IDLEBROOK Contributing writer The fate of a little bird that spends its summers in the high elevations of the Green Mountains could soon become a new focal point in a national battle over regulating climate-changing emissions. Earlier this year, the federal government started the formal process read more

    Songbird’s decline fuels climate-change debate
  • Issue:

    EPA tries to navigate conflicting demands on Housatonic cleanup

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    EPA tries to navigate conflicting demands on Housatonic cleanup By DAVID SCRIBNER Contributing writer   PITTSFIELD, Mass.Twelve years ago this month, General Electric Co. signed a consent decree with state and federal environmental agencies under which it agreed to clean up PCB pollution in the Housatonic River, setting the stage for the dredging of 1.5 read more

    EPA tries to navigate conflicting demands on Housatonic cleanup
  • Issue:

    CSA movement builds communities one farm at a time

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    By CRAIG IDLEBROOK Contributing writer   EGREMONT, Mass. On a quiet road just off Route 23 is Indian Line Farm, a place where agricultural history was made. Not that you would know it. The only marking to distinguish the farm is a small sign on the mailbox. It was here in 1985 that farmers Robyn read more

    CSA movement builds communities one farm at a time
  • Issue:

    A pinnacle of culture? Partners shape mission for Bascom Lodge

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    By JOHN TOWNES Contributing writer ADAMS, Mass.Brothers Peter and John Dudek and their business partner Brad Parsons are extending the vertical reach of the culture and the creative economy in the Berkshires. Three years ago, the men took over operation of Bascom Lodge, a historic structure at the summit of Mount Greylock, the highest point read more

    A pinnacle of culture? Partners shape mission for Bascom Lodge
  • Issue:

    Generation Organic — Young people in a high-tech age rediscover farming

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    By TRACY FRISCH Contributing writer   SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.On a cold winter night, the gathering of 20- and 30-somethings animated a large hall at the Saratoga Springs Hilton with warmth and laughter. A quick scan of the scene left no doubt that the occasion couldn’t possibly be a singles event or a high-powered business affair. read more

    Generation Organic — Young people in a high-tech age rediscover farming
  • Issue:

    State pushes to limit Housatonic cleanup

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    Mass. backs GE’s call to restrict scope of PCB removal By DAVID SCRIBNER Contributing writer LENOX, Mass.From Canoe Meadows, the 285-acre Audubon wildlife preserve in southeast Pittsfield, the Housatonic River winds its way south in a coil of oxbows through a floodplain flanked by farms and wetlands, creating one of the most diverse wildlife habitats read more

    State pushes to limit Housatonic cleanup
  • Issue:

    Faster path for wind power?

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    Mass. weighs bill to streamline development process By CRAIG IDLEBROOK Contributing writer HANCOCK, Mass.When 10 windmills atop Brodie Mountain began generating electricity earlier this year, the Berkshire Wind Power Project became the largest commercial wind farm in Massachusetts. But some say the $65 million project, first proposed back in 1998, offers a cautionary tale about read more

    Faster path for wind power?
  • Issue:

    The landscape is the inspiration

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    By STACEY MORRIS Contributing writer CAMBRIDGE, N.Y.The open fields and rolling hills of Rensselaer and Washington counties have provided inspiration to artists for generations, and every October for the past 10 years, local artists have banded together to give something back. The annual Landscapes for Landsake art show and sale, scheduled this year for Oct. read more

    The landscape is the inspiration