Urban Forestry News

Suggestions For Alternative Arbor Day Celebrations

Posted on by patricialindquist

By Patricia Lindquist, DNR Urban Forestry Communications Specialist, patricia.lindquist@wisconsin.gov, 608-843-6248

Looking for ideas for celebrating Arbor Day during the pandemic? Here are a dozen possibilities:

  • Plan a socially distanced tree planting and include a small number of volunteers or limit to municipal staff. See this Arbor Day Foundation guide for suggestions, and be sure to comply with local guidelines from your community health authorities.
  • Host a drive-up tree or seedling giveaway. Last year, New Berlin handed out one hundred small trees with Girl Scouts in a drive-thru Arbor Day celebration. They recorded the Village President reading the proclamation as the cars drove up.

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Every Kid Healthy Week

Posted on by patricialindquist

April 26-30 is Every Kid Healthy Week. This national celebration promotes the importance of well-rounded health in children – not just physical, but also social and emotional health. One easy way to maintain each of these types of health is to spend time outside. Spending time among trees is scientifically proven to reduce stress and boost the immune system. When kids appreciate the benefits trees provide not just us, but also our planet, it can start them on the path of lifelong love for the natural world.

Each year the last day of Every Kid Healthy Week also happens to be Arbor Day! In Wisconsin, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) helps celebrate Arbor Day with an environmental education program designed to teach students the importance of trees. We provide thousands of free tree seedlings to Wisconsin fourth grade students for this celebration on a yearly basis.

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Treat Your Valuable Ash Trees Against Emerald Ash Borer

Posted on by patricialindquist

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

Ash tree branch in West Allis has been attacked by woodpeckers looking for larvae to eat.

Municipal foresters and property owners with healthy, valuable ash trees should consider treating the trees with insecticide this spring to protect against emerald ash borer (EAB). The pest is currently the most damaging threat to trees in Wisconsin, killing more than 99 percent of the ash trees it infests. 

Woodpecker damage during the winter is often the first sign that an ash tree is infested, so it is essential to examine your ash trees. Now is an excellent time to consider insecticide protection because the treatments are usually done between mid-April and mid-May once leaves begin to return. Treatments on already-infested ash trees are more likely to be successful if the trees have low or moderate levels of woodpecker damage.

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EPA Announces $6 Million Of Funds Available In Environmental Justice Grants

Posted on by patricialindquist

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the availability of up to $6 million in grants under two programs. The grants aim to address environmental justice issues, including COVID-19 effects, climate change, and natural disasters.

Proposal packages are due May 7.

Learn more about each of these grants here:

1000 Friends Of Wisconsin’s Leafing Out Webinar Series

Posted on by patricialindquist

Leafing Out, Episode 5: Common Tree Diseases With Brian Hudelson

Thursday, April 15, 2021, 12:00-1:00 PM

This webinar is produced in collaboration with the Dane County Tree Board.

Join 1000 Friends and Brian Hudelson, the Director of Diagnostic Services at the UW-Madison Plant Disease Diagnostics Clinic, to learn about the most common diseases impacting our urban trees. Brian will teach us the most prevalent tree diseases and share methods for their management and prevention.

We’ll stop periodically throughout the presentation so Brian can answer any specific questions you have. Brian is a frequent guest on the Larry Meiller Show on WPR and is excited to answer any of your tree disease questions. We encourage you to send questions in ahead of time to be sure we answer them.

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“Everything You Need To Know In Half An Hour” Webinar Series

Posted on by patricialindquist

This spring EAB University is starting a new series of 30-minute All You Need to Know videos.

The webinars run from late April to mid-May and cover gypsy moth, spotted lanternfly, emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, thousand cankers disease and hemlock wooly adelgid. Scroll down for dates, speakers, abstracts and registration info.

Gypsy moth: Everything you need to know in half an hour

  • Speaker: Cliff Sadof, Elizabeth Barnes of Purdue University, Department of Entomology, and Carrie Tauscher of Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry
  • Date: April 28, 2021, 11 a.m. Eastern
  • Registration: https://msu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EjBdXKugQWOZil8Ws23U5A
  • Abstract: When does gypsy moth kill trees? When don’t you have to worry? Learn the latest in key information about gypsy moth including management, current distribution, preventing spread, basic biology, host-plant identification and more.

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Species Diversity In The Urban Forest: A Short Guide For Homeowners

Posted on by patricialindquist

By Patricia Lindquist, DNR Urban Forestry Communications Specialist, patricia.lindquist@wisconsin.gov, 608-843-6248

“What kind of tree should I plant?” We are often asked that question as urban foresters. For me, the first thing that comes to mind is, “not a maple!”

Approximately 36% of trees in the Wisconsin Community Tree Map are maples.* Why is this a bad thing? All it takes is a pest like the emerald ash borer (EAB) or a disease like Dutch elm disease that targets maples, and suddenly, one-third of the urban canopy is destroyed.

By planting smaller quantities of many different species, we create a more resilient urban forest less affected by any single threat.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recommends planting no more than 10% of a genus (for example, maples or oaks) and 5% of a species (such as sugar maples or bur oaks). Most Wisconsin communities are far from meeting those targets.

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Protect Oak Trees From Oak Wilt By Pruning After July, Not Before

Posted on by eleanorvoigt

By Don Kissinger, DNR Urban Forester, 715-348-5746 or Don.Kissinger@wisconsin.gov; Paul Cigan, DNR Forest Health Specialist, 715-416-4920 or Paul.Cigan@wisconsin.gov

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) urban and forest health specialists recommend not pruning or cutting oaks from April through July to protect oak trees from the often fatal oak wilt disease.

The spring season often draws property owners outdoors to soak up rays of long-awaited sunlight, breathe in some fresh air and begin seasonal yard maintenance and cleanup projects. While spring is a time to dust off yard tools like rakes, shovels and weed clippers, when it comes to the health of oak trees, keeping those chainsaws and trimming tools a safe distance away will go a long way to ensure that your trees stay healthy for many more spring seasons to come.

Sap-feeding beetle on a diseased oak tree in Sawyer County.

Sap-feeding beetle on a diseased oak tree in Sawyer County.

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2021 Arbor Day Foundation Recognition Program Standards

Posted on by patricialindquist

Tree City, Tree Campus and Tree Line USA program participants: please review the Arbor Day Foundation’s following expectations regarding the 2021 program recognition standards.

Tree City USA Standard 4 – Proclamation and Arbor Day Observance: We will require a signed Arbor Day proclamation on all 2021 applications. Arbor Day observances and celebrations will not be required, but cities will be highly encouraged to publicize their community’s recognition as a Tree City or celebration of Arbor Day.

Examples of things communities could do to observe while socially distancing: Facebook live tree planting, social media post encouraging citizens to celebrate Arbor Day, newspaper article, radio ad, etc.

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Six Applicants Receive DNR Urban Forestry Grants In Second Round Of Funding

Posted on by patricialindquist

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Urban Forestry Grant program awarded $104,920 to six Wisconsin communities for urban forestry projects during the second round of our 2021 funding. These funds were originally reserved for the Catastrophic Storm Grant program but were not needed through the winter months.

The communities receiving funds are the City of Cedarburg, the City of Delafield, the Village of Grafton, the City of Menasha, the Village of Shorewood and the City of Sun Prairie. Each grantee will receive an equal part of the available funding for $17,486.50. These urban forestry grants must be matched dollar for dollar.

The Department of Natural Resources Urban Forestry Grant program funds projects consistent with state and national goals to increase the urban forest canopy and its benefits. The urban forest encompasses trees on both public and private property.

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