Scott Bowe

There is an old cowboy saying that goes something like this, “It ain’t the things you don’t know what gets you in trouble; it’s the things you know for certain that just ain’t so!” My high school English teacher would be horrified by the grammar, but the sentiment is certainly true.

My topic for today – What do we really know about our forests? What is perception and what is reality?

Humans have used wood as fuel for millennia. It has been used for cooking, heating, and more recently power production. I thought this topic would be timely given that we are experiencing our first real cold snap of 2021. In fact, I’ve had our wood stove burning all weekend – enjoying the fire inside while looking out our frosty windows.

In this month's installment of Field Notes Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses sugar in trees, how Mother Nature makes trees and plant with simple sugars.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses bees in Wisconsin’s Northwoods.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses how maple trees produce sap for real maple syrup.

If you are a winter enthusiast, we are off to a great start this year. Snowshoers, skiers, and snowmobilers have had excellent snow conditions. To add to the great snow conditions, we have enjoyed relatively mild temperatures. So how does snow form and what are the different types of snow?

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses how the Lacey Act protects rare trees around the world.

In this month's installment of Field Notes Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses bird’s-eye wood, some of the most beautiful material a woodworker can use.

When I say “figure in wood” you may not be familiar with the phrase.  But if I say bird’s-eye maple, an image of beautiful swirls pops into your mind.  There are many other types of wood figure such as curly, tiger stripe, fiddleback, and quilted, but I would like to focus on bird’s-eye today.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses trees and their resistance to decay fungi.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses snow load and how it impacts our homes.

It's the second Tuesday of the month, which is when we hear from our commentators in the field.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses how trees adapt with changes in elevation.

In my last Field Notes broadcast, I spoke about the amazing human body and how it adapts to working and playing at high elevations. Elevation has impact on other organisms besides humans. Let’s look at elevation and how trees adapt to this harsh environment.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses how the body adapts to recreation in high elevations.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses Milkweed in Wisconsin.

In this month's installment of Field Notes Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses Wisconsin’s oaks and how they are used in our daily lives.

In this month's installment of Field Notes Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses Wisconsin’s maples and how they are used in homes and schools.

Wisconsin has seven native maple trees and many more non-native ornamental maples, with some of these considered invasive. We all know the sugar maple, our state tree, but the others are less well known. Let’s look at Wisconsin’s maples and how they are used in our daily lives.