CONFERENCES
OCTOBER 15-18, 2018. Mayo Civic Center, 30 Civic Center Drive SE, Rochester, MN
Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference / North American Invasive Species Management Association
The Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference (UMISC) is a biennial conference celebrating 10 years of connecting the invasive species management, research, and policy community. The Conference host organizations and organizing committees are pleased to join with the North American Invasive Species Management Association (NAISMA), celebrating its 25th year, to co-host the largest invasive species conference in North America at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, MN – October 15-18, 2018. The goal of UMISC is to strengthen management of invasive species, especially prevention, control, and containment. Invasive species research, prevention, and management has seen great strides but much work still must be done. The conference provides numerous opportunities to network with professionals, land managers, researchers, nonprofits, and others. The conference is open to the general public. Registration with fees required.
TALKS
OCTOBER 13, 2018. Boerner Botanical Gardens, 9400 Boerner Drive, Hales Corner, WI.
10:00-11:30AM
“Invasive Plants”. Mary Bartkowiak, invasive plants specialist, WI DNR Forest Health Program.
Mary’s presentation will focus on invasives in the marketplace (aka Organisms in Trade) and an overview of the NR 40 invasive species rule. Open to SEWMG Master Gardeners. Registration required.
OCTOBER 15, 2018. Holiday Inn Convention Center, 1001 Amber Ave, Stevens Point, WI
71st Annual Wisconsin Towns Association meeting (October 14-16).
“Enemies of the Town – Insects, Diseases, Invasive Plants and Worms impacting Wisconsin in 2018”. Mike Hillstrom, forest health specialist, WI DNR Forest Health Program.
Talks begin at 8:30AM. The meeting is open to the general public. Registration with fees required.
The Green Bay Packers, along with corporate sponsors Essity and Green Bay Packaging Inc., marked another successful year of the “First Downs for Trees” program by planting trees at Ashwaubenon’s Klipstine Park on Thursday, July 19th. These sponsors provided the funds for the planting 444 trees in 17 Brown County communities. These trees will provide total lifetime benefits of $2,132,200. 
Recently, I came across a beautiful, full evergreen. After a while, I realized I had planted this gorgeous monument when I was five years old, as part of a community project and Arbor Day celebration.
The 2018 WAA/DNR Annual Conference was held February 18-20 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This year there was a record attendance of 857 people. Those in attendance were from the private industry, business owners, municipal staff, and state employees. Again, this year there were several different tracks attendants could attend: general sessions, climbers corner, introductory, business and utility. Across these tracks many topics were covered, from insects and pests to climbing and building an arboriculture business. This three-day conference also hosted many different exhibitors from the industry to provide attendees with up-to-date technology, equipment and practices to improve their work.
Right now, you’re probably sitting in your office, trying to stay warm and planning for the year ahead. Be sure to check out the following recognition programs and pass the information along to committee and boards who would be interested. The great part is that a single project could be used to help meet all three programs’ requirements! Also be sure to