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Collaborative Reforestation – Sheboygan Area School District

Posted on by janness

By Tony Fessler, Co-Coordinator – Restoration Of Our Trees Sheboygan, www.sheboyganrotary.com or 920-946-6770.

Photo Credit: Tony Fessler

A collaborative urban reforestation project involving the Sheboygan Area School District, the Sheboygan Rotary Club Restoration of our Trees Sheboygan (ROOTS) and the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership (LNRP) completed a second major milestone on May 10, 2025.  This first-of-its-kind urban reforestation collaboration was initiated in 2024 through a matching $25,000 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Urban Forestry Grant to ROOTS and LNRP.  Continue reading “Collaborative Reforestation – Sheboygan Area School District” →

Upcoming Trainings

Posted on by janness

group of people listening to a speaker in the woods*These training opportunities are provided as an information service only and do not constitute an endorsement from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

See below for information on training topics, including biochar, advanced arboriculture, selecting resilient tree species, The National Urban Tree Canopy Application, invasive species, wildlife and educational resources. Continue reading “Upcoming Trainings” →

New Forest Health Specialists Take To The Woods

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Art Kabelowsky, DNR Outreach and Communications
Arthur.Kabelowsky@wisconsin.gov or 608-335-0167

It’s time for River Mathieu and Tim Shively to put all their education and research to work.

Mathieu and Shively are the newest additions to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forest Health team. Both started on June 30, filling Forest Health Specialist vacancies.

Continue reading “New Forest Health Specialists Take To The Woods” →

Veiled Polypore Fungi Growing On Red Pine Bark

Posted on by akabelowsky
Closeup photo of veiled polypore fungi showing as yellow, leathery fruiting bodies on the bark of dead red pine trees.

Veiled polypore fungi show as yellow, leathery fruiting bodies on the bark of dead red pine trees. / Photo Credit: Linda Williams, Wisconsin DNR

By Linda Williams, Forest Health Specialist
Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665

You may have seen these leathery, yellow fungi growing on recently dead red pine trees and wondered if they were what killed the tree. The short answer: No, they did not kill the tree.

The veiled polypore (Cryptoporus volvatus) is a decay fungus that grows on the bark of red pine in the year after they die. They can be found anywhere on the trunk of the tree.

Continue reading “Veiled Polypore Fungi Growing On Red Pine Bark” →

Heavy Seed Crop And Thin Tops On Maples

Posted on by akabelowsky
A photo of a maple tree branch showing the production of large seed crops, creating off-color leaves that are smaller than normal into early summer.

Maple trees producing large seed crops may have off-color leaves that are smaller than normal into early summer. / Photo Credit: Linda Williams, Wisconsin DNR

By Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist
Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov or 920-360-0665 

Scattered maple trees across parts of the Northwoods have produced heavy seed crops this year.

When trees produce so many seeds, it reduces the amount of energy available for producing leaves. As a result, those leaves can appear smaller and off-color into the summer. With fewer leaves produced, these trees will continue to look very thin throughout this year’s growing season.

Continue reading “Heavy Seed Crop And Thin Tops On Maples” →

Non-Native Caterpillars Attacking Non-Native Euonymus

Posted on by akabelowsky
A wide view of a shrub covered by Euonymus caterpillars' web branches as they feed on the leaves of Euonymus species.

Euonymus caterpillars web branches as they feed on the leaves of Euonymus species. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Michael Hillstrom, DNR Forest Health Specialist
Michael.Hillstrom@wisconsin.gov

Euonymus caterpillars (Yponomeuta cagnagella) made a dramatic appearance in June, webbing and defoliating Euonymus shrubs in several counties.

Multiple species of Euonymus may be attacked, including spindle tree, winged (e.g., burning bush), eastern wahoo, winter creeper and others. Winged euonymus is listed as Restricted in Wisconsin’s invasive species rule NR40.

Continue reading “Non-Native Caterpillars Attacking Non-Native Euonymus” →

Anthracnose Infecting Hardwood Leaves

Posted on by akabelowsky
Photo of ash leaves infected with anthracnose.

Ash leaves infected with anthracnose. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Michael Hillstrom, DNR Forest Health Specialist
Michael.Hillstrom@wisconsin.gov
and Abby Krause, DNR Urban Forestry Coordinator
Abigail.Krause@wisconsin.gov

Anthracnose is a common disease of hardwood trees during cool, wet spring seasons. Some parts of Wisconsin have been cooler and wetter than others this spring, so anthracnose damage may be patchy.

Ash, maple, white oak, sycamore and walnut are the most impacted tree species. Each species has its own species of anthracnose that infects it, but if weather conditions are right, then we tend to see damage on multiple species.

Continue reading “Anthracnose Infecting Hardwood Leaves” →

Winsome Fly Biocontrol Slows Japanese Beetle

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A closeup photo showing Winsome fly eggs on three Japanese beetles, including a mating pair with a female Japanese beetle below the male.

Winsome fly eggs are found on three Japanese beetles, including a mating pair (with a female Japanese beetle shown below the male). One or more eggs are laid on each beetle; eggs are nearly always laid just behind the head. The Winsome fly prefers to lay eggs on female Japanese beetles. / Photo Credit: Jacques Lasnier, Quebec, Bugwood.org

By Bill Hutchison, Department of Entomology
University of Minnesota
Hutch002@umn.edu

The Winsome fly (Istocheta aldrichi (Mesnil)), part of the Tachinidae family, is a parasitoid of the invasive pest Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica).

A parasitoid is an insect whose larvae develop in or within a host insect of a different species, eventually killing it.

The Winsome fly was introduced in 1923 in New Jersey as a biological control agent of the Japanese beetle, six years after the Japanese beetle was accidentally introduced in the United States. Since then, the Winsome fly has become established in the Northeastern states and Quebec and Ontario in Canada.

Continue reading “Winsome Fly Biocontrol Slows Japanese Beetle” →

Please Submit Trees Planted This Spring!

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By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist; Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578

When your newly planted trees are getting comfortable in their new homes, you’ve pulled the splinters from your hands and you find yourself at a desk asking yourself, “What now?”, we have an answer for you.

Please take a moment and record your trees in the Wisconsin Tree Planting Survey. Those submissions will then appear on the Tree Planting Map and be tallied toward the state’s pledge to the Trillion Trees Initiative. Governor Tony Evers signed the pledge to protect and restore Wisconsin’s rural and urban forests by planting 100 million trees in Wisconsin by 2030. Continue reading “Please Submit Trees Planted This Spring!” →