By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist; Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578
It was 2021 and the West Allis Forestry Division faced a crisis. For all intents and purposes, its tree inventory was no longer functional. The division had always been a program that kept and used a lot of data, but inefficiencies in the inventory process abounded, and now the software where the data was stored was essentially crashing. The status quo was clearly not working.
But as Winston Churchill apocryphally said, “Don’t let a crisis go to waste.”
Continue reading “Community Spotlight: West Allis’ Tree Inventory System”
Volunteers are needed to be on the ground and up in the tree. Tasks on the ground include helping parents fill out waiver forms, outfitting kids in helmets and saddles and belaying kids up into the tree using pulley systems. Volunteers are needed in the tree to teach kids limb walking, hanging upside down, etc.
*These training opportunities are provided as an information service only and do not constitute an endorsement from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The annual WAA/DNR Urban Forestry Conference will again be held at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. More information will be available soon! 
Tree managers met at 
The Urban and Community Forestry Society (UCFS) Industry Trends committee – charged with monitoring the issues impacting your work – is seeking information on your experiences with insurance companies and urban tree canopy. There is growing evidence that insurance companies are directing the pruning or removal of trees, and the committee wants to fully understand the issue. Your responses to the survey below will help compile stories and evidence so that UCFS can work with industry partners and draft position statements. 
The DNR’s Reforestation Program needs red and white pine cones – more specifically, we need the seeds found within those cones for our reforestation needs. The Reforestation Program produces millions of pine seedlings every year at the Wilson State Nursery in Boscobel, and the only way we can produce those seedlings is with seed collected from the fields and forests of Wisconsin. 
The 
The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) is launching a new credentialing management system and an updated pricing structure, going live on July 15, 2025.