Urban Forestry News

Invasive Plant Control Database

Photo credit: Joseph O’Brien, USDA Forest Service, bugwood.org

Are you looking for information on how to control buckthorn, honeysuckle or garlic mustard? The Invasive Plant Control Database from the Midwest Invasive Plant Network is a terrific resource for learning about the most effective chemical and non-chemical control methods for dozens of invasive plants in the Midwest.

Information was collected from both scientific literature and expert opinions and summarized by the Midwest Invasive Plant Network in partnership with the Mark Renz Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For each species, information was reviewed by four individuals, including two who identified as experts on control of that species.

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Willow Identification And Management Class

Riveredge Nature Center in Saukville, located in southeastern Wisconsin, is offering a class on willow identification and management on Friday, June 23, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Expand your restoration skillsets by getting past the Genus Salix to further your understanding of willow species identification, their habitat needs and their importance for pollinators. Follow Zach Khron and Matt Smith into off-trail areas of Riveredge’s uncommon habitats to find willow populations, identify at the species level and discuss management. We will start our day in the lab to review herbarium specimens and end it in the field.

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Madison Welcomes New City Forester

The city of Madison is happy to announce Ian Brown as the new City of Madison Forester.

Brown will lead the Streets Division’s Urban Forestry section. He joins the city after 17 years of public urban forestry experience, most recently as a Forestry District Manager for the city of Milwaukee for the past 7 years.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota – Morris in biology and a Master of Science in natural resource management with a focus in urban forestry from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point.

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Are Native Trees The Right Fit For Our Downtowns?

By Kim Ballard, Project Canopy, kim.ballard@maine.gov

Photo credit: David Lee, bugwood.org

This article was first published on the website of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry. Reprinted with permission.

As urban foresters, we are often asked, “Why do you recommend planting a non-native tree in front of my house/on my sidewalk/in that parking lot?” The question is complex and has as many answers as there are environments in Maine. But it all boils down to “right tree, right place.”

Maine is the most forested state in the nation. Along with our beloved state tree, the eastern white pine, our forests are full of sugar maple, red oak, white birch and eastern hemlock. If you get a chance to wander through these native woods, you’ll notice that the shady air is cooler, moister and perhaps not as breezy as the air around your neighborhood sidewalks. Trees planted in our downtowns face a whole host of conditions – solar reflection, drought, soil compaction, road salt, tunneling winds that forest trees rarely encounter. Can you imagine a majestic white pine on Congress Street in Portland? Even if it could survive, it certainly wouldn’t be very happy. Our downtowns are NOT native spaces, and they cannot support our native species appropriately.

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Eastern Tent Caterpillar Webs Common

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

Photo of web of eastern tent caterpillars.

Eastern tent caterpillars and their webs start out small but grow quickly. Photo: Linda Williams, Wisconsin DNR.

Have you seen trees along roadsides with white webs in them? Eastern tent caterpillars (ETC) are hatching and beginning to feed on host trees, including cherry, apple and crabapple.

Landowners and homeowners may notice the white silken tents forming in branch forks. Although they form unsightly nests, ETC is a native insect, so management is not typically necessary. Even completely defoliated trees will produce new leaves within a few weeks.

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Multiple Oak Defoliators Active Now

Photo of oak leafroller caterpillar on a leaf.

Oak leafroller caterpillars web leaves together as they feed. Photo: Wisconsin DNR.

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

Watch for defoliators in your oak trees this summer. You may have already heard news reports about spongy moth caterpillar populations being high this year, but there are some native caterpillars to watch for this year as well.

In 2022, oak leafroller caterpillars caused significant defoliation to oaks in areas of northeastern and northwestern Wisconsin, as well as in Blue Mound State Park. Many other areas experienced lesser amounts of defoliation from oak leafroller.

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Spongy Moth Forecast Caution Issued

By Bill McNee, Forest Health Specialist, Oshkosh
bill.mcnee@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0942

Photo of mature spongy moth caterpillar

Mature spongy moth caterpillar on a leaf. Photo: Bill McNee, Wisconsin DNR

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Forest Health staff are cautioning Wisconsin residents that the next two months could bring the worst spongy moth outbreak in more than a decade.

The caterpillars of this invasive insect prefer to feed on oak, birch, crabapple, aspen and willow leaves, but will also feed on many other tree and shrub species.

Southern Wisconsin and parts of the north are already in a high-population outbreak that is predicted to continue and spread. Populations have remained high due to a low incidence of caterpillar-killing diseases last summer. In addition, weather conditions in 2023 are favorable for the caterpillars and unfavorable for Entomophaga maimaiga, a fungus that kills spongy moth caterpillars.

Property owners are encouraged to examine their trees and take action.  Specifically:

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Document Trees Planted This Year

Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist, Milwaukee, daniel.buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578

As there is every glorious spring, there has been a flurry of tree planting in Wisconsin. Each little tree, from seed to sapling, is a hope and prayer that we make for the future. But as each reader knows, that future might be many years away.

While you nurture these arboreal miracles, why not take a couple minutes to document the trees in the Wisconsin Tree Planting Map? The map was designed to help track trees planted to advance the state’s pledge to the Trillion Trees Initiative.

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Wisconsin DNR Begins State Nursery Biochar Trial

By Brian Zweifel, DNR Forest Products Specialist, Brian.Zweifel@wisconsin.gov

What is Biochar?

Microscopic structure of biochar. Photo credit: UK Biochar Research Centre

Biochar is basically just charcoal with a special mission, to be used in the soil. The US Biochar Initiative (USBI) defines it as “carbonized biomass obtained from sustainable sources and sequestered in soils to sustainably enhance their agricultural and environmental value under present and future management.” 

Biomass, such as unmerchantable wood waste, is transformed into this carbon-rich material in a low oxygen environment, cooking most non-carbon materials out of it and leaving the material’s basic structure intact. This carbon skeleton is what gives biochar many of its desirable properties. 

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