Trees make a town a special place to live. Trees shade homes, businesses and streets. They clean air and water, increase property values, reduce energy costs and make neighborhoods greener, safer and healthier. By becoming recognized and fulfilling the standards of Tree City, Tree Line, or Tree Campus USA, communities, companies and campuses are putting their citizens first and building a better community with the forest outside your door. Thousands of communities across America are enjoying these many benefits of trees and being recognized as a Tree City USA.
Urban Forestry News
Markets growing for urban wood across Wisconsin
Written by Scott Lyon, Forest Products Specialist
Many communities have expressed greater interest in local goods and services over the last few years; as a result urban wood recycling efforts have increased in Wisconsin. The increase of trees killed by invasive insects and disease caused many municipalities to seek alternative uses for urban wood rather than disposing material in a landfill. Recent efforts to market this growing source of material and develop ways to recycle urban trees within communities led Wisconsin to become one of the leading states in urban wood utilization. Continue reading “Markets growing for urban wood across Wisconsin”
Accounting for trees in stormwater models
Accounting for Trees in Stormwater Models is a resource to share with stormwater engineers. The paper is intended to help the stormwater engineering community more easily account for trees in runoff and pollutant load calculations and incorporate them into stormwater management strategies. It summarizes existing hydrologic and hydraulic models that can be applied at the site and small watershed scales to account for the stormwater benefits of conserving existing trees and/or planting new trees. The paper also includes examples of specific techniques to modify stormwater models to account for urban tree benefits, as well as associated resources and tools for estimating the hydrologic benefits of trees in the urban landscape. Continue reading “Accounting for trees in stormwater models”
Does your community have forest-friendly development practices?
Not every city in Wisconsin has a municipal code or ordinance that includes trees, and even then, those that do have codes may not have forest-friendly ones. A new resource has been created and has taken care of the hard work of determining if your city’s codes are forest-friendly; and if they are not, the resource provides advice on how trees can be more welcome in your neighborhoods. Continue reading “Does your community have forest-friendly development practices?”
Trapping project found no non-native beetles
By Mike Hillstrom, forest health specialist, Fitchburg. Michael.Hillstrom@wisconsin.gov; 608-513-7690
The Wisconsin DNR’s forest health team received funding to trap for non-native beetles in 2018. This project was funded by the US Forest Service through an Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) grant. The project is complete, and we happily share that we did not find any non-native beetles!
Forest health staff member Scott Schumacher hangs a Lindgren funnel trap to survey for non-native beetles.
The Forest Service periodically provides funding to states to trap for non-native bark and ambrosia beetles. The goal of trapping is to detect, delimit and monitor newly introduced exotic beetles and to quickly assess and respond to newly detected infestations.
We placed traps at 12 high-risk sites in Jefferson, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Racine, Manitowoc, and Brown counties. Sites were selected in collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and were based on proximity to large commercial port entries on Lake Michigan or recycling facilities for pallets and other waste packaging. Three Lindgren funnel traps (12 funnels stacked to look like a tree trunk) and lures were assembled at each site and checked every two weeks between early May and early August. Specimens collected from the traps were sent to a Forest Service taxonomist for identification.
Improve mental health with exposure to trees and nature
If stress about the upcoming holiday season is beginning to build, put on your coat and hat, get yourself outside and walk around under your neighborhood trees. Exposure to nature reduces depression, anxiety and stress! Time spent in nature provides a wealth of mental health benefits. Continue reading “Improve mental health with exposure to trees and nature”
Social media study explores how to connect homeowners with arborist
How do people respond differently to messages about caring for the trees in the yard? Which messages motivate homeowners to contact a certified arborist to help them care for their trees? This spring, the Wisconsin DNR partnered with the Wisconsin Arborist Association (WAA), University of Wisconsin-Madison and UW-Extension to design a Facebook outreach campaign to test these questions. A new resource with the results and social marketing insights from the study is now available.
Continue reading “Social media study explores how to connect homeowners with arborist”
A tool to integrate public health considerations in the development of parks and trails
The National Park Service, Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Disease Control came together to create the “Parks, Trails, and Health Workbook,” a quick guide and outline for incorporating public health considerations in the development of a park or trail. Utilizing the health impacts of these natural areas is a different and critically important way to promote parks and trails. Applying health benefits provides a personal connection and increased relevance to community members and encourages them to act and get outdoors. Continue reading “A tool to integrate public health considerations in the development of parks and trails”
Tree inventory on Western Technical College campus
Inventorying trees can be a tedious process, though it is an important one. You look up at individual trees, but then you look back on a forest.
Tree inventories are foundational parts of any urban forest program. That was the underlying message of the recent visit of DNR staff to Western Technical College in La Crosse where, at the invitation of landscape horticulture instructor David Lein, the DNR provided an introduction to tree inventories. Continue reading “Tree inventory on Western Technical College campus”
Phillips High continues evaluating community trees
Phillips High School students are showing the value of trees in their community. For the past three years the students have been inventorying the trees in the community. Over those years the project has continued to grow each year, from collecting data on trees to identifying planting sites, and now building community awareness by putting price tags on trees. Continue reading “Phillips High continues evaluating community trees”