Map of the known distribution of oak wilt in Wisconsin as of December 1, 2016.
Oak wilt, a deadly fungal disease affecting red oaks, was confirmed for the first time in Price County in 2016. In addition to the new county find, the disease was also confirmed in various townships in northern Wisconsin counties where we already knew oak wilt was present.
The map in the oak harvesting guidelines was updated based on the find.
Oak wilt is commonly found in the southern two-thirds of the state, but has been creeping northward. The disease was found for the first time in 2010 in Oneida County, in 2012 in Lincoln, Sawyer, and Vilas counties, in 2013 in Rusk County, and in 2014 in Washburn County. Oak wilt has been confirmed in all Wisconsin counties except Ashland, Bayfield, Calumet, Door, Douglas, Forest, Iron, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and Taylor.
Read more about oak wilt prevention in the news release from March 21, 2017: Protect oak trees from oak wilt by waiting until after July to prune.
Written by: Kyoko Scanlon, forest pathologist, Fitchburg (Kyoko.Scanlon@Wisconsin.gov), 608-275-3275.
Recently, the DNR Urban Forestry Program and the Wisconsin Arborist Association (WAA) recently held the annual Wisconsin Urban Forestry Conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin. With the theme “Healthy Benefits to Enriching Your Arboriculture and Urban Forestry Knowledge,” the conference was three full days of exhibits, presentations from experts across the world, and networking events and opportunities. There was record attendance this year, beating out last year’s record of 750. This year, the WAA offered a new Utility Track of presentations that allowed members to learn more about technologies in community forestry and other topics to help those who attended.