Urban Forestry News

LEAF Resources For Connecting Kids With Nature

Posted on by patricialindquist

By Jonathan Ismail, LEAF K-12 Forestry Education Program Outreach Specialist, Stevens Point jismail@uwsp.edu or 715-346-3229

Kids identifying trees

Photo Credit: Jonathan Ismail, LEAF K-12 Forestry Education Program Outreach Specialist

Numerous research studies support the idea that green spaces and vibrant tree canopy at school campuses are important for students’ academic and socioemotional growth. But that can be easily overlooked during construction, design build and as our school grounds in our communities age over time. Municipal foresters and tree boards can be part of driving positive change.

Three critical preconditions for learning – ability to concentrate, intrinsic motivation and manageable levels of stress – have been linked to green schoolyards in recent research[1]. At the LEAF K-12 Forestry Education Program, a partnership between the DNR Division of Forestry and University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, our resources can help you get students outdoors and connected with nature. For example, our Forest Mapping activity provides learners with hands-on outdoor mapping investigations of their school campus.

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Please Submit Trees Planted This Year

Posted on by patricialindquist

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

Wisconsin Tree Planting MapAutumn is a great time to plant trees. After the trees go in the ground, please take a few minutes to document the effort 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.

While the DNR may be able to track the ultimate destination of seedlings grown at the state nursery, or trees which have been funded by DNR grants, there are so many others planted across Wisconsin which go undocumented. The planting map was designed to help fill that void and to ensure that those trees are accounted for in our tallies.

Whether it was a planting of one tree or a thousand, take a couple minutes to submit your information through an easy-to-use survey.

Wood Innovations Grant Program

Posted on by patricialindquist

The USDA Forest Service is announcing the availability of $20 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to support projects that will substantially expand and accelerate wood products and wood energy markets throughout the United States. Additional funds from annual agency appropriations will be subject to availability. The intent is to stimulate, expand and support U.S. wood products and wood energy markets to support long-term management of National Forest System and other forest lands while enhancing the economic and environmental health of communities.

Eligible applicants include for-profit entities, state and local governments, Indian Tribes, school districts, communities, not-for-profit organizations, institutes of higher education and species purpose districts (e.g., public utilities districts, fire districts, conservation districts and ports).

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Don’t Let Tree Trouble Hitch A Ride On Firewood

Posted on by akabelowsky
Photo of spongy moth egg masses attached to a piece of firewood

A pair of spongy moth egg masses attached to a piece of firewood. Moving this firewood to another site could put trees at that site at risk in the spring. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

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

Are you generally hesitant to give hitchhikers a free ride?

October was National Firewood Awareness Month, and even though November has arrived, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) continues to urge residents and visitors to follow the same line of thinking when it comes to moving firewood.

That’s because tree-killing hitchhikers often lurk on or in firewood — including spongy moth, emerald ash borer, the fungus that causes oak wilt and other invasive insects and fungi. When untreated, infested firewood is transported away from where the tree died, those pests and fungi can later emerge to attack trees at the new site. This can happen whether that new location is in the next town or hundreds of miles away.

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Oak Mortality Increases In 2023

Posted on by akabelowsky
Photo of a bur oak tree more than 100 years old showing canopy dieback and epicormic branching due to twolined chestnut borer

A bur oak more than 100 years old exhibits canopy dieback and epicormic branching caused by twolined chestnut borer. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Michael Hillstrom, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Fitchburg
Michael.Hillstrom@wisconsin.gov

White, red and bur oaks have been experiencing increased mortality in Wisconsin and neighboring states over the last few years.

The causes of mortality are varied, but two-lined chestnut borer (TLCB) is the most common culprit. Wisconsin has switched from a period of historically wet years (2017-2020) to drought conditions that have become more severe each year (2021-2023). Add in frost damage, storm damage, increased growing season length and aging forests and the environmental recipe exists for stressed oaks that are more susceptible to attack by insects and diseases.

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Article Sets Record Straight On Value Of EAB Management

Posted on by akabelowsky
Photo of an adult emerald ash borer beetle on a tree trunk

An adult emerald ash borer beetle on a tree trunk. The invasive insect is expected to eventually kill 99 percent of ash trees in Wisconsin. / Photo Credit: Bill McNee, Wisconsin DNR

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

Entomology Today magazine has published an article debunking common misconceptions about management of emerald ash borer (EAB). The information in the article can be helpful to communities and landowners deciding whether to invest in treatment to preserve ash trees.

The article focuses on treatments for high-value trees, not those in woodlands. The advice in the summary is clear for communities, property managers of high-use recreational lands and homeowners with ash near residences:

“Allowing nature to take its course is a budget-busting option.”

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DNR Debuts Video On Scraping Spongy Moth Egg Masses

Posted on by akabelowsky
Photo of Wisconsin DNR's Andrea Diss-Torrance scraping a spongy moth egg mass off a tree.

Wisconsin DNR invasive forest insects program coordinator Andrea Diss-Torrance demonstrates scraping a spongy moth egg mass off a tree while making a video on the subject for the DNR. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Art Kabelowsky, DNR Forestry Outreach/Communications Specialist
Arthur.Kabelowsky@wisconsin.gov or 608-335-0167

The fall and winter months present a perfect opportunity to protect trees by searching out and removing spongy moth egg masses.

The invasive insects currently exist only as tiny eggs, camped out in egg masses that can be found in places such as tree trunks and branches, under park picnic benches and swing sets, and under the awnings of buildings.

And now, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has debuted a short video showing exactly how to easily and safely remove egg masses to reduce next spring’s population of hungry spongy moth caterpillars.

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Tree City USA Application Portal Now Open

Posted on by patricialindquist

The application portal for Tree City USA is now open and available. Applications are due Dec. 31.

You will notice some changes to the recognition portal this year. These instructions will help you log in for the first time.

We hope you join us again this year in continuing our strong commitment to growing and maintaining a healthy tree canopy across Wisconsin. If you’re new to Tree City USA, you can learn more about the program on the Arbor Day Foundation’s website and from your DNR Urban Forestry Coordinator.

If you’ve been a Tree City USA for at least one year, you may want to see whether you’re eligible for a Growth Award. The Growth Award is presented by the Arbor Day Foundation to participating Tree City USA communities that demonstrate higher levels of tree care and community engagement during the calendar year. Communities need to earn at least ten points in any of the following five categories: Building the Team, Measuring Trees & Forests, Planning the Work, Performing the Work and The Community Framework. Review the point system to see if you’re eligible this year and talk to your Urban Forestry Coordinator if you have any questions.

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The Good, The Bad And The Ugly: The Current State Of Public Trees In Southeastern Wisconsin

Posted on by patricialindquist

By Elton Rogers, Milwaukee Area Technical College and Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist, Milwaukee, Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578

An urban forest is not an island. Trees and maintenance practices in one community inevitably affect the environment in another, while pests, pathogens and other damage agents don’t respect political boundaries. Because of these shared experiences, researchers have partnered with the Wisconsin DNR to assess the current state of publicly managed trees across the Milwaukee Metropolitan Area. Inventories from 40 organizations (mostly municipalities) totaling almost 440,000 trees point to worrying diversity issues and vulnerability to climate change, but also positive planting trends.

An article in the September issue of Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, the research publication of the International Society of Arboriculture, reviews the Milwaukee area’s species diversity, resilience to climate projections, availability of planting sites and more. A high-level summary of those results is below.

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From Decaying Park To A Vision For Tomorrow: The Story Of Mauston’s Living Food Pantry

Posted on by patricialindquist

By Randy Reeg, former City Administrator, Mauston

The city of Mauston (Juneau County, Wisconsin) is a small rural city of just under 4,500 people, situated along the I-90/94 corridor in central Wisconsin. Despite having a highly successful local manufacturing economy, a regional medical center and being situated in heavily trafficked regional tourist destination area, Mauston and Juneau County both have lower than average incomes and high levels of poverty. The region is one of Wisconsin’s rural food deserts, and the local food pantry, the Community Sharing Pantry, plays a crucial role in fighting local hunger.

The city of Mauston has seven public parks, and like in most other communities, the amenities, popularity and usage of each park differs greatly. Marachowsky’s Park is an approximately 2-acre mini park located on the city’s west side. It had historically contained a youth baseball field, a picnic shelter, playground equipment and public restrooms. Following the summer of 2019, Mauston’s Summer Recreation Director at the time advocated for the relocation of the youth baseball field to a different park for logistical purposes, including the muddy and mosquito-ridden conditions. The Parks & Recreation Board and City Council both agreed, and by summer of 2020, youth baseball was no longer an activity at Marachowsky’s Park.

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