Tips For Arbor Day 2023

Posted on by patricialindquist

This year, Arbor Day will be observed in Wisconsin on Friday, April 28. Please see below for some tips for planning your own celebration.

Add Your Event To A Compilation Of Arbor Day Celebrations Nationwide

Spread the word about your celebration by adding your event to this Arbor Day Foundation webpage. Use this link to submit the details of your event.

Contribute To Wisconsin’s Trillion Trees Pledge

Encourage landowners and homeowners to contribute to Wisconsin’s Trillion Tree Pledge with a goal of planting 1 million trees in Wisconsin’s cities and villages by 2030. Record the trees you plant on Wisconsin’s Tree Planting Map!

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Arbor Day Communications Ideas

Posted on by patricialindquist

Need Ideas To Talk With Your Community About Arbor Day? Let Us Help!

Keep reading for a variety of ideas with differing levels of involvement, from in-person events to social media and more. Feel free to use none of these ideas or all of them and change them in any way you like. Use them as a starting point and make them your own or post them as-is.

You may tag the Wisconsin DNR in your social media posts – we’d be happy to engage with them – but please know it is not necessary.

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Wisconsin Forestry Center Seeks Industry Input

Posted on by patricialindquist

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point are seeking the opinions of Wisconsin’s forestry professionals.

Researchers are conducting an online survey to understand the professional development and training needs of Wisconsin practitioners in fields including forest management, timber harvesting, forest products, and urban forestry. By participating, you will help inform the development of more relevant, accessible, and valuable training opportunities.

The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete, and your response is anonymous. Visit this link to participate and share your thoughts in their online survey. The deadline to participate is April 28. 

If you have questions related to this study, please contact Zoe Kaminsky, graduate research assistant, at zkaminsk@uwsp.edu.

WisBURN: A Place For All Things ‘Burning’ In Wisconsin

Posted on by ryoungfluur

By Catherine Koele, DNR Wildfire Prevention Specialist

For southern Wisconsin, fire season is well underway. For others in the north? Well, unfortunately, it may be June before some of the snow piles completely melt. But, it’s never too early to be thinking about spring fire season. To gear up, the DNR launched an update to WisBURN—the place to get current fire season information throughout Wisconsin. 

Phone screen showing WisBURN interactive map

Fire danger and DNR burn restrictions can change daily. WisBURN can help keep you informed!

Many people have come to recognize the Wisconsin DNR’s fire danger and burn restrictions webpage over the years. It draws in nearly 700,000 page views every year from outdoor enthusiasts, rural property owners, hunters, farmers, local governments, and even the media. 

Earlier this year, the Division of Forestry officially launched the latest rendition of WisBURN. Users take note—the web address has changed, seamless redirects are in place, and it’s now considered a web-based, interactive mapping application. The updated web address is now: apps.dnr.wi.gov/wisburn

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Annual Property Implementation Plans Available

Posted on by ryoungfluur

Each spring, Wisconsin State Forests develop Annual Property Implementation Plans (APIPs) and Monitoring Reports identifying the major scheduled and completed forest and habitat management treatments, recreation and infrastructure developments and other property management actions. You are invited to review the APIPs online and direct questions and comments regarding the plans to the respective property manager. 

All planned treatments and developments in APIPs are approved and consistent with property master plans previously developed using public input. Annual Property Implementation Plans do not include routine maintenance or minor actions including mowing, building maintenance, inventory or field surveys.

Oak Harvesting During A Cold Spring

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Kyoko Scanlon, DNR Forest Pathologist, Kyoko.Scanlon@wisconsin.gov or 608-235-7532

Oak trees in a snow-covered field

The colder weather in spring 2023 might delay the DNR’s recommendations to avoid trimming or cutting from April through July. Photo: Wisconsin DNR

It’s April, but in much of Wisconsin the weather doesn’t seem to have gotten the message.

You may be wondering if the oak harvesting restriction that started on April 1 (south of the tension zone) and will start on April 15 (north of the tension zone) might be pushed back due to unusually cold temperatures.

Even with unusually cold springs, we remain consistent with the same general messages: “Stop pruning in April” and “Avoid harvesting in April (south of the tension zone).” We do this for the following reasons:

  • It is difficult to spread the word in a timely manner about when to begin the restrictions. Often when spring comes late, it arrives suddenly; in those cases, before we know it, we’ve entered the high-risk period.
  • We want to be consistent in stressing the messages of the existing oak harvesting guidelines, so that the public is aware of them.

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Protect Oaks During Spring Clean-up

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Paul Cigan, DNR plant pest and disease specialist, Paul.Cigan@wisconsin.gov or 715-416-4920

An oak tree with branches trimmed

To prevent the spread of often-fatal oak wilt disease, do not prune, cut or wound oaks from April through July. Photo: Wisconsin DNR

With the arrival of spring, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recommends protecting oaks from the often-fatal oak wilt disease by refraining from pruning, cutting or injuring oak trees from April through July.

The highest risk period for oak wilt introduction to a new site is in spring and early summer. Pruning and cutting oaks exposes living tree tissue beneath the bark to potential infection. The disease rapidly kills trees in the red oak group and weakens those in the white oak group.

Sap-feeding beetles spread the disease between oaks by carrying oak wilt spores from infected trees or firewood to fresh, exposed tree wounds. Healthy oaks and freshly cut oak stumps can become infected as quickly as 15 minutes after a wound is made from a pruning cut or broken branch.

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First Recovery of Emerald Ash Borer Enemy Made

Posted on by akabelowsky

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

Map showing Spathius Galinae recovery in Manitowoc County

Sites where EAB biological controls have been recovered as of March 2023. The Spathius galinae recovery site is indicated by a red star. Blue dots show Tetrastichus planipennisi recovery sites. Municipal EAB detections are in green. Map: Wisconsin DNR

Two adult wasps, collected last December as pupae from an emerald ash borer (EAB) gallery at Kiel Marsh State Wildlife Area in Manitowoc County, have recently been identified as Spathius galinae.

This find marks the first time that S. galinae has been recovered in Wisconsin, confirming that the adult wasps released at this site over the last few years were able to attack EAB larvae and reproduce successfully. The “EAB wasps” were released as biological controls to help reduce EAB populations over the long term.

This wasp species has a longer ovipositor than the other EAB larval parasitoid currently released in Wisconsin (Tetrastichus planipennisi), allowing S. galinae to attack EAB larvae that are beneath thicker bark.

Spathius galinae was first released in Wisconsin in 2016, and approximately 1,000 of this species were released at Kiel Marsh in 2019 and 2020. Recovery surveys are conducted several years after initial releases, giving the wasps time to reproduce and spread. Continue reading “First Recovery of Emerald Ash Borer Enemy Made” →

Aerial Spraying Set For Four State Sites

Posted on by akabelowsky

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

Spray aircraft used in spongy moth control

Spray aircraft used in spongy moth control. Photo: Bill McNee

At a suitable time between early May and early June, an airplane will spray parts of four DNR properties to reduce the population of spongy moth caterpillars (formerly known as gypsy moth). Treatment dates will depend on weather conditions and caterpillar development.

This year’s high populations threaten to strip trees of their leaves and possibly kill high-value trees at these properties.

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Heterobasidion Root Disease Approaches

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Alex Feltmeyer, Forest Health Specialist, Plover, Alexandra.Feltmeyer@wisconsin.gov or 715-340-3810

A Heterobasidian root disease fruiting body at the base of a white pine sapling

A Heterobasidion root disease fruiting body is found at the base of a white pine sapling in the understory. Photo: Wisconsin DNR Forest Health

Heterobasidion Root Disease (formerly annosum root rot or Fomes root rot) is a serious disease of conifers that causes reduced height, shoot and diameter growth along with thin and yellowish/red foliage, ultimately causing mortality.

The disease becomes established in a new stand when spores of the fungus land on freshly cut stumps made by any forest management that creates cut stumps. After the disease becomes established, it spreads underground through root systems into adjacent trees. In this way, we often find pockets or groups of trees in various stages of decline.

Movement through the root systems contributes to significant spread throughout stands of conifers, impacting the regeneration of conifers within these pockets.

Mortality usually starts occurring three to eight years after a thinning operation. During this time, perennial fruiting bodies of the fungus begin to develop around the base of cut stumps or dead trees.

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