Division of Forestry News

New Program Connects Hunting Heritage With Landowner Forest Management

Posted on by akabelowsky
Photo of a young deer wanders through a woodlot with invasive plants.

A young deer wanders through a woodlot with invasive plants. / Photo Credit: Central Pennsylvania Forestry blog

By Bob Nack, DNR R3 Supervisor, Madison;
Robert.Nack@wisconsin.gov or 608-617-3492

A joint state-landowner program proven successful in Wisconsin areas is under consideration for expansion into more counties to combat the slow, but steady decline in active deer hunters, prompting concerns in both environmental and economic realms.

The program, also tested successfully in other states, requires participants to complete hunter education safety and online deer hunting 101 courses. Participants also are required to practice at the shooting range and join in live virtual meetings. Experienced mentors are ready to provide guidance and support to participants.

Adams County landowner Matt Dettlaff endorsed the program. “Our landowner cooperative recognized this program as another valuable new tool in our herd management toolbox,” he said.

Forest landowners, including Dettlaff, see the browsing impact high deer densities can have on tree regeneration and wildlife-habitat quality. One strategy of this program is to tap new adult hunters to harvest antlerless deer for specific property goals. Landowner participants would determine the antlerless harvest goals and control the hunting plans for their properties.

“We typically cannot harvest enough antlerless deer ourselves to meet our goals to keep the herd in balance with quality habitat,” Dettlaff said. “Helping introduce new folks to the deer hunting tradition we are passionate about is just an added feel-good bonus.” Check out this video from the 2025 late-season firearm hunt in Adams County.

Landowners passionate about forest management and the future of deer hunting are encouraged to participate in any of these ways:

Organized late-season firearm hunt for antlerless only: An organized firearm antlerless deer hunt in early December. Program includes an evening social and a deer-processing demonstration. Ideally, a landowner or group of area landowners provide hunting opportunities for at least 10 adult hunters. Landowners identify antlerless deer harvest goals for their property.
Archery hunting: The DNR contracts with Raised at Full Draw (RAFD) to provide archery educational programs. RAFD is piloting a Field to Fork bow hunting program for adults. Participants commit to attend weekly archery practices from June through August. Participants  are also expected to complete weekly homework online to review at in-person meetings. Before hunting, an archery shooting proficiency test will be administered by instructors to ensure participants have mastered their equipment to hunt ethically. RAFD is looking for landowners with property within an hour of Madison.

Interested? Contact Bob Nack, DNR R3 Supervisor, at Robert.Nack@wisconsin.gov or 608-617-3492.

Governor Plants Seeds Of Celebration For Wisconsin’s Forests

Posted on by akabelowsky
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers speaks to a group after a tree planting to celebrate Arbor Day.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks at a 2025 Forest Appreciation Week and Arbor Day tree-planting event in Green Bay. The governor assisted in the planting of 15 large shade trees as part of Wisconsin’s participation in the Trillion Trees Pledge. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Art Kabelowsky, DNR Forest Health Outreach and Communications
Arthur.Kabelowsky@wisconsin.gov; 608-335-0167

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers didn’t have to go out on a limb to make this announcement.

By issuing a Governor’s Proclamation this week, Gov. Evers has shined a spotlight on Wisconsin’s 17 million acres of forestland. His announcement officially recognizes Wisconsin’s participation in Forest Appreciation Week and Arbor Day.

“Wisconsin’s trees and forests are among the state’s most beautiful and critical natural resources,” Gov. Evers wrote, “and educating kids, families and communities about sustainable forestry is vital to their long-term conservation.”

Continue reading “Governor Plants Seeds Of Celebration For Wisconsin’s Forests” →

Frost’s Bite: How Do Insects Survive Winter?

Posted on by akabelowsky
An emerald ash borer larva overwinters by curling into a J shape inside a channel in an ash tree in Brookfield in 2019.

An emerald ash borer larva overwinters by curling into a J shape inside a channel in an ash tree in Brookfield in 2019. / Photo Credit: Bill McNee, Wisconsin DNR

By Michael Hillstrom, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Fitchburg

Michael.Hillstrom@wisconsin.gov

As winter’s chill persists, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forest Health staff members are often asked how cold it needs to get to kill insects, especially invasives.

The answer varies from species to species, but many insects are well adapted to dealing with freezing winter temperatures. Some, such as monarchs, avoid the issue and migrate south for the winter. Others, such as multicolored Asian ladybeetles, annoy us with their presence in our homes and offices as they try to avoid the cold until spring.

Continue reading “Frost’s Bite: How Do Insects Survive Winter?” →

Balsam Fir Mortality Similar To 2018 And 2020

Posted on by akabelowsky
Picture of dying balsam fir in Northwoods of Wisconsin.

Scattered balsam fir trees in the Northwoods have suddenly turned brown and red this spring. Photo Credit: Linda Williams, Wisconsin DNR

By Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff; Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665

Scattered balsam fir trees in some areas of northern Wisconsin have suddenly turned a rusty red or brown color and are dying. These trees are not being impacted by spruce budworm and typically die with a full complement of needles.

These symptoms are similar to those observed in 2018 and 2020. So far, the number of impacted trees reported is smaller than what was seen in 2018 or 2020. While reports of affected trees are still coming in, they seem to be concentrated in northern areas of the state that experienced extensive snowfall in late winter.

Continue reading “Balsam Fir Mortality Similar To 2018 And 2020” →

Launch of New Strategic Plan

Posted on by Kirsten Held

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has begun implementation of a new forestry strategic plan for fiscal years 2023-2027.

The Division of Forestry’s Strategic Direction is a five-year plan that builds off of the Wisconsin forestry community’s 10-year Statewide Forest Action Plan. Tying into that plan allowed the division to define tangible strategies and actions that support the broader vision for the sustainable management of Wisconsin’s forest resources.

Find the new plan and learn more about the process used to develop it by visiting FY2023-2027 Strategic Direction.

A Legacy Of Tree Planting

Posted on by Kirsten Held

Near Boscobel, the Wilson State Forest Nursery was a beehive of activity through the month of April. Walking row after row of small trees, behind a harvesting machine, crew members carefully lifted seedlings from soil so as to not damage roots. Overseeing the operation is Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Reforestation Team Leader Joe Vande Hey.

“We’re looking at about three-and-a-half million trees this year,” he says proudly. “We sold just about everything we have, and I’m anticipating sales to increase probably to the five-million range over the next couple of years.”

Wisconsin’s Reforestation Program grows high-quality, reasonably priced, native-tree seedlings and shrubs to plant on private and public lands for conservation. It has a rich history dating back to 1911 when the state’s first tree nursery was planted. Over the decades, 1.6 billion seedlings have been supplied to landowners.

Vande Hey says Wisconsin’s pledge to plant 75 million trees by 2030 is part of the reason he has a positive outlook for growth over the next couple of years. “It’s definitely putting an emphasis back on tree planting. It sparks interest and that’s going to mean an increase in sales.”

Providing future forest products, improving wildlife habitat, preventing soil erosion are all motivating the effort, but now more so than ever, there’s a focus on removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as outlined in Wisconsin’s Statewide Forest Action Plan.

As it turns out, carbon sequestration and carbon storage are two things our forests do very well. Protecting the planet by fighting climate change is a cause that continues to grow in popularity.

Vande Hey explained, “Trees tie up carbon, so the more forested land we have, the more carbon we can capture. Private landowners definitely see the benefit and want to be recognized for helping plant trees.”

He says 60 to 70% of stock grown in state nurseries is being shipped to private forest landowners, such as the FitzRandolph family featured in this video.

The nursery sells 30 to 40 different species, a mix of hardwoods, conifers, and shrubs: generally red, white and jack pines, white spruce, oaks and maples.

Emerald ash borer is causing “a pretty good shift” for orders to some areas, Vande Hey said, with alternative species like white oak, red maple, tamarack and cedar going to areas where ash trees once flourished. More species changes are on the horizon, not because of emerald ash borer, but due to global warming.

“We’re starting to play with species typically found only in southern Wisconsin, trees we historically didn’t grow a lot of that might be planted in other areas of the state, or even species that historically don’t come into Wisconsin,” Vande Hey said. “Trees native to Illinois, Iowa and Indiana, where it’s a bit warmer.”

Whatever the species, the seedlings will be planted to regenerate acreage where trees have been harvested or going into the ground where forests have been absent.

“Some forest landowners are planting through the Conservation Reserve Program – taking crop ground that is highly erodible and putting it into more permanent cover. There are a good number of seedlings being planted under hardwoods, particularly in southern Wisconsin where they’re not getting the natural oak regeneration that they desire.”

Wherever seedlings are headed, he says Wisconsin’s reforestation program has the capacity to meet increased demands, now motivated to a large extent by climate change.

Planting Trees To Help The Environment

Posted on by Kirsten Held

Many Wisconsinites recently celebrated the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day by planting trees. On Madison’s near west side, Julie Ballweg and her children marked the holiday by adding a couple of sugar maples to their yard.

“We’ve got some older trees. Looking to the future, they won’t be around forever, so we’ll be planting something that will grow in the shade of them. And once they’re gone there will be something to take their place,” explained Ballweg.

With soaring gas and grocery prices, a devastating war and a lingering virus, many are looking for some good news, a reason for hope, and Ballweg says we have it right here in the Badger State, with at least some cautious optimism on one global front: climate change.

“There are a lot of collaborative projects going on right now, perhaps more than we’ve ever seen, and I feel pretty optimistic,” she said.

Being a good mother is not Ballweg’s only job. She is also the Forestry Climate Change Policy Advisor for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Ballweg is a member of an impressive team of scientists and subject-matter experts, all of whom are sharing expertise and developing strategies on two fronts: helping Wisconsin’s forests adapt to the changing conditions and using the forests to address climate change.

Their work is guided by the climate goals and strategies in Wisconsin’s Statewide Forest Action Plan and Governor Evers’s Task Force on Climate Change Report, along with the work of think tanks like the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, and the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) – formed in 2007 by the DNR and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies to generate and share information that can foster solutions to climate change in Wisconsin. WICCI’s 2021 assessment report, “Wisconsin’s Changing Climate,” provides a comprehensive assessment of past and future climate change and its impacts in Wisconsin.

“We have a history of managing some really beautiful forests here in Wisconsin, so I think it’s a bit of rethinking how we do it in the face of climate change, and I think the DNR’s role is pretty applied in all of that, taking the research and translating that, how we can use it to help landowners, and help foresters,” said Ballweg.

There’s a lot on the team’s plate.

Increasing carbon dioxide emissions are fueling greenhouse gases that are warming our state. Scientists project our temperature will rise four to nine degrees Fahrenheit by mid-century, with northern Wisconsin’s forest temperatures going up the most. Their research has already shown the thermometer up two degrees since 1950, with precipitation increasing by 4.5 inches.

However, numbers are not uniform. For instance, southern and central areas of the state have seen snow and rain go up 20% over annual averages, while the Northwoods has not. Experts are studying snowpack, frozen ground, length of growing seasons, the frequency and intensity of storms, flooding, wildfires and the potential for increased numbers of invasive species or pests like mosquitos and ticks. The bottom line: you can’t have just one climate-change roadmap when planning for Wisconsin’s future. A mitigation strategy for one part of Wisconsin might look completely different in another.

It can sound overwhelming, but we’re not reinventing the wheel. The DNR and its partners have been sustainably managing trees for a long time, and with 17 million acres of forests, we have a lot of climate-change fighting assets. Forests take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make energy through photosynthesis. The energy helps them grow, and as they do, they capture carbon in their wood, roots, leaves and in the soil below. All of this forms the basis for Ballweg’s optimism.

The State of Wisconsin pledge to plant 75 million new trees by 2030 as part of the global trillion trees initiative and the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change makes her outlook on our forest future even more positive.

If you plan on joining the tree-planting movement, Ballweg suggests taking a look at i-Tree. “It’s a free tool, and there’s a calculator on i-Tree that can tell you how much carbon the trees you have on your lawn are capturing. There’s also an economic calculator so you can determine not just carbon, but the amount of shade each tree offers, and how much that shade can reduce your cooling bill in the summer,” she explained.

As for Ballweg and her children, they have several good reasons for choosing sugar maples. They provide nice canopies, of course. Lovely fall colors, you bet. But someday tapping sap for maple syrup to pour over Saturday morning pancakes made the sugar maples just the right pick for their family.

Forest Appreciation Week: Saluting Trees From Seedlings to Seniors

Posted on by Kirsten Held

Governor Evers has declared this as Forest Appreciation Week in Wisconsin.  Bookended by Earth Day and Arbor Day, Forest Appreciation Week celebrates Wisconsin’s 17-million acre forest resource and the bountiful ecological, economic, social and cultural values it provides every day.  This week’s celebration encompasses all ages of trees, from seedlings to seniors!

Wisconsin has a long history of planting trees and the DNR’s reforestation program is proud to have supplied more than 1.6 billion tree seedlings planted in Wisconsin since 1913.  And, for the past 40 years, DNR has provided tree seedlings to fourth-grade students throughout Wisconsin for their Arbor Day celebrations. 

While the purpose of tree planting in the early 1900s was to reforest the cutover forestland, today’s tree planting focus is on using trees as a tool to mitigate climate change. In fact, the state of Wisconsin pledged in 2021 to work with public, private and non-governmental partners to plant 75 million trees by the end of 2030 and to conserve 125,000 acres of forest land.

This week’s celebration also includes the introduction of the revitalized champion tree program.  This program, started in 1941, recognizes and celebrates the largest of each tree species in Wisconsin.

Join the celebration as you enjoy and honor Wisconsin’s urban and rural forests.

Celebrating Wisconsin’s Champion Trees

Posted on by Kirsten Held

By Joel DeSpain, Division of Forestry Communications Specialist

“Each of us from birth to death is intimately connected with trees. On their beauty and longevity we hang our memories and beliefs, trusting trees to be symbols of our achievements and things we hold dear,” wrote renowned Wisconsin arborist, R. Bruce Allison, in his wonderful book Every Root an Anchor, Wisconsin’s Famous and Historic Trees. 

Wisconsin is abundant with rich forests, many of them urban, and as Allison notes, we develop deep connections with individual trees, some of which are the largest of their species in the state.

Here at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), we’ve been relying on community members to help us find and measure these giants since 1941 as we celebrate and recognize our largest trees through our Champion Tree Program.

This is an ongoing search, and we are actively seeking additional nominations – to document the winners and share them on our website via a recently launched interactive map that provides photos, information, and locations of the champs.

Champion Black Tupelo (located in the UW-Madison arboretum)

Some have been discovered deep in the Northwoods, such as our prize-winning, 108-foot sugar maple located in Forest County on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. The sugar maple has been a Wisconsinite favorite dating back to 1893 when school children first selected it as our state tree, loved for its brilliant orange and red autumn colors and the delicious maple syrup derived from its sap.

You can find other champions in people’s yards or beautifying city streets. So loved is Wisconsin’s champion, 92-foot tall Northern Catalpa on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus that faculty and students banded together with tree experts to save it following summer storm damage last year. With its white, trumpet-shaped flowers, giant heart-shaped leaves and dangling bean-like seed pods, the Northern Catalpa is a showy beauty of mammoth proportions.

Several grandiose winners have borne witness to colorful histories, like our 108-foot Eastern Cottonwood Champion which sits next to Door County’s reportedly haunted Interstate Saloon, built in 1895.

More record-holders were planted in cemeteries in memory of loved ones, some of whom served in the Civil War. In Waukesha County, a massive, majestic burr oak dates to pre-Revolutionary War times.

No doubt, champs are all over the Wisconsin landscape. It would take quite the road trip to visit them all, and we firmly believe there are more out there, like buried treasure, undiscovered, each with a story to tell. We would love to find and document each one, even if it means dethroning a current champion.

We can’t do it alone. The program has endured because everyday people have been keeping an eye out for more than 80 years, ever since the program launched. So, without further ado, we invite you to honor and preserve Wisconsin’s natural resources heritage. Good luck finding the next champ, and remember, the search can be very relaxing and fun!

What’s Your Seedling Story?

Posted on by Kirsten Held

By Lauren Peterson, Reforestation Communication Specialist, Division of Forestry

What’s the most sentimental space in your home? For many families with kids, it’s often a wall or a doorframe used as a tried-and-true method of tracking growth. This little corner of the house is filled with chicken scratched names, jumps in ages, even greater leaps in height, and happy memories of the past. However, for some Wisconsin families, a measurement of years gone by grows just outside the window.

For 40 years now, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has encouraged all fourth-grade students to take part in planting a free tree seedling, distributed by the Division of Forestry’s reforestation program. Fourth-grade teachers and homeschool parents are eligible to submit their orders for seedlings from winter through early spring in order to receive their shipment by Arbor Day.

It’s hard not to get sentimental thinking about tiny kids planting tiny seedlings, right? After an arduous journey of bouncing around in backpacks and being forgotten at bus stops, with branches abused but mostly intact, these seedlings found their forever homes outside those windows. Throughout the years, these seedlings have mirrored the growth of the tiny hands that first placed them in the soil.

Much like the seedlings and the fourth-grade students, this initiative to get future generations excited about forestry has grown each year to become a tradition unlike any other. Introduced in 1982, the project really hit its stride in 1984. Within the last decade, the DNR has supplied an average of more than 38,000 seedlings annually with a high of 45,857 seedlings shipped out in 2021. DNR’s reforestation team estimates that around 350,608 seedlings have been sent out to fourth graders across the state in the last ten years.

Conifer seedlings growing at the Wisconsin DNR nursery in Boscobel, WI

Seedlings are often a species of pine, distributed with an educational brochure to assist in planting and a plastic bag to ensure backpacks stay clean. Conifers, specifically pine, are commonly used for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it is relatively easy for children under supervision to plant. These little pines are green in early spring and grow well throughout the state on a variety of soils. Finally, nurseries often have a large quantity of pine from year to year in the quantities needed to distribute thousands across the state.

That said, on the 100th anniversary of the Wisconsin state nursery program in 2011, the nurseries celebrated by providing sugar maple seedlings instead. Sugar maple was selected as the state tree of Wisconsin in 1983 and the nursery program felt it was appropriate to use that seedling for their centennial anniversary.

This Arbor Day we celebrate not only the holiday, but the countless people who made this seedling project grow to what it is today and the children it has impacted. Through four decades of this endeavor, the DNR has had the support of countless teachers, principals, parents, volunteers and employees. For many fourth-graders, planting their seedling has been a fun springtime activity and watching it grow throughout the years is a memory to be proud of. To others, it sparked a fascination with forestry, natural resources, conservation, or science. After 40 years, one thing is still true; this was never just about planting seedlings.

Do you have a memory about planting an Arbor Day seedling? We welcome your stories and photos at Forestry.Webmail@Wisconsin.gov.