Join Matt Smith, a professional restoration ecologist with over 22 years of experience, for an entirely outside, hands-on field demonstration in pruning, coppicing and tree release for restoration and landscaping. This training will take place on Feb. 23, 2024, at Riveredge Nature Center, Newburg, WI (35 miles north of Milwaukee).
For more information and to register, visit the Riveredge Nature Center website.
The Michigan State University Forest Carbon and Climate Program has launched a new intensive course, Urban Forests and Climate Change. This online professional training will be offered multiple times throughout the year. Course content was co-developed with MSU faculty and the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, a collaborative, multi-institutional partnership led by the USDA Forest Service. Continue reading “Michigan State University Launches Course On Urban Forests And Climate Change”
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is offering free tree seedlings to every fourth-grade student in Wisconsin as part of the department’s annual Arbor Day tree planting program.
Wisconsin fourth grade principals, teachers and those who homeschool can now place seedling orders and coordinate delivery by completing the 2024 Arbor Day application by March 15, 2024.
Planting seedlings from state nurseries is a great way to celebrate Arbor Day (April 26, 2024) which is dedicated to increasing the number of trees across the country to help improve the environment. By ordering seedlings, you can help.
Through its fourth grade Arbor Day tree planting program, the DNR provides interactive education to Wisconsin students around the importance of trees within our environment. Annually, the DNR provides approximately 50,000 free tree seedlings to fourth-grade students throughout the state. Continue reading “DNR Offers Free Tree Seedlings To Wisconsin Fourth Graders Ahead Of Arbor Day 2024”
By Laura Buntrock, DNR UF Partnership & Policy Specialist, Rhinelander; Laura.Buntrock@wisconsin.gov or 608-294-0253
We are excited to share the following updates on Urban Forestry Inflation Reduction Act Grants through the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The DNR was allocated $4.875 million of Inflation Reduction Act funds from the USDA Forest Service earlier this year. Of that, $4 million will be sub-awarded to local entities through our competitive grant program. Given the requirements and intentions of these funds, the Urban Forestry Inflation Reduction Act Grants will 
look different from the grants we have offered in the past. We have meticulously worked through the emergency rule change process to temporarily modify the structure of our grant program to facilitate the disbursement of this new funding. Our regular and start-up grant offerings will continue unchanged in 2024.
Continue reading “Urban Forestry Inflation Reduction Act Grants Update”
By Nicolle Spafford, DNR Urban Forestry Grant Manager; Nicolle.Spafford@wisconsin.gov or 715-896-7099
Photo Credit: Preston Keres, USDA Forest Service
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced Urban Forestry Grant Program recipients for the 2024 grant year. The program helps fund projects consistent with state and national goals for increasing the urban forest canopy.
The Urban Forestry Grant Program is distributing almost $805,000 in grant funds, with $554,680 in state funding and an additional $250,066 in federal funding. A dollar-for-dollar match puts the estimated cost of these projects over $1.6 million. In total, 58 applications were selected to receive funding, with awards ranging from $1,580 to $25,000. Continue reading “DNR Urban Forestry Program Announces 2024 Grant Recipients”
Join the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Wisconsin Arborist Association (WAA) for the 2024 Wisconsin Annual Urban Forestry Conference. The conference will be held from Feb. 25 to 27 at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay.
The DNR and the WAA have developed three days of enriching educational programming on the latest research, innovations, developments and arboriculture and urban forestry industry issues.
This conference is intended for professional arborists, community foresters, nursery professionals, park and recreation directors and staff, tree care workers, landscape architects, green industry professionals, community administrators, volunteers and students. Continue reading “Save The Date: WAA/DNR Annual Conference, Feb. 25-27, 2024”
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which perennial plants are most likely to thrive in a given location. The map is based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature, displayed as 10-degree Fahrenheit zones and 5-degree Fahrenheit half zones.
Thirty years of data was reviewed by a group of horticultural, botanical and climatological experts for the latest USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map revision. This was determined to be the best balance between the fluctuations of year-to-year weather variation and the concept that, during their lifetimes, perennial plants mostly experience what is termed “weather” rather than “climate.” A complex algorithm was used for this edition of the Plant Hardiness Zone Map to enable more accurate interpolation between weather reporting stations. This method accounts for factors such as elevation change and proximity to bodies of water, making mapping zones more accurate. Continue reading “New-And-Improved USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map”
