Happy International Day of Forests! Annually, March 21 is a day dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness of our forests. This year’s International Day of Forests theme is “forests and energy.”
In a video clip titled “The forest: nature’s powerhouse,” organizers of the 2017 celebration note, “Trees store the sun’s energy by turning it into wood which has always been the world’s most used source of renewable energy. New scientific advances using wood waste are opening it up to even more uses like liquid biofuels, making it a fuel of the future.”
Wisconsin has 17.1 million acres of forestland and there are currently more than fifty public and private facilities in the state that use some form of woody biomass for their energy needs. Continue reading “Forests are nature’s powerhouse”
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.
Gravel beds, a way of holding bare root trees and extending the bare root planting season, have been growing in popularity, especially in the Midwest. Several municipalities and other organizations throughout Wisconsin have been utilizing gravel beds to plant more trees on tight budgets, diversify plantings, decrease labor and ensure sound, healthy root systems. Hudson and Racine are wonderful examples of the success of gravel beds. 
“Plant a tree to thrive, not to simply survive.” Dan Traas, Ranger Service, echoes the sentiment of most arborists and urban foresters’. There are numerous crucial steps in the tree planting process, location, soil type and temperature must all be considered. However, the species of tree chosen may be the utmost central consideration.