By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist; Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578
Autumn is a wonderful time for planting trees. And after the trees go in the ground, please take a few minutes to document the effort in the Wisconsin Tree Planting Map. The map was designed to help track trees planted to advance the state’s pledge to the Trillion Trees Initiative.
By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist; Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578
The trees on school properties mirror those of the surrounding urban forest in composition but not in coverage.
That is one initial takeaway from an i-Tree Eco project on Milwaukee Public School (MPS) properties conducted by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Urban Forestry interns Priscilla Loh and Taylor Colman this summer. Continue reading “Sampling Trees On Milwaukee Public School Campuses”
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently announced it is accepting applications for the Urban Forestry Inflation Reduction Act grant program. The program, which launched in January, uses federal funds to support projects that positively impact trees and people within disadvantaged communities* in Wisconsin.
The DNR is hosting a webinar on March 14 at 1 p.m. to provide an overview of the application and answer questions. A link to register is available on the DNR Urban Forestry Inflation Reduction Act Grants webpage. The application deadline is June 3, 2024.
Potential projects may involve conserving, protecting, expanding or improving urban forests. Examples include tree planting, hazard tree removal and pest control. Projects can also be capacity-building endeavors, such as urban forestry management plans, tree inventories and public education.
Cities, villages, towns, counties, tribes and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations conducting their projects in Wisconsin may apply for an Urban Forestry Inflation Reduction Act grant. Eligible projects must occur in or benefit those living in disadvantaged communities as identified by the DNR on this map and list.
By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist
Pines are evergreen. So are hollies. And spruces and firs and hemlocks fit the bill. Requests for species recommendations are also evergreen – I’m sure many of you field these requests.
The DNR Urban Forestry program, in consultation with partners on the Wisconsin Urban Forestry
Council, has updated its recommended species lists for street and park trees. You can find those four documents below and under “Tree Species Selection” on the DNR urban tree planting resources webpage.
These lists are not exhaustive, and any general list of recommendations has some uncertainty due to the nuanced conditions of specific planting sites. We highly suggest consulting with your local nurseries and other experts who can discuss what is available and provide other recommendations and planting advice. With just a few exceptions, these lists do not include cultivars and varieties, but your local experts can provide that amount of detail. Continue reading “Updated Tree Species Recommendations”
By Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist, Milwaukee, Daniel.Buckler@wisconsin.gov or 608-445-4578
Tree inventories seem like such simple enterprises. Their purpose, essentially, is to determine what trees are growing where, in what shape they’re in and how big they are.
But to do them well requires expertise in arboriculture, proficiency with data collection and familiarity with GIS. And, of course, time. This is why many organizations turn to consulting arborists and foresters to conduct inventories and write management plans – they have that expertise and experience to see those projects through.
However, for some smaller or specialty projects, an organization may decide to collect tree data itself. For these efforts, a list of free digital data collection applications is available on the DNR website.
Continue reading “Free Data Collection Applications For Tree Inventories”
By Alex Krutsch, Supervisor of Forestry and Grounds, City of Wauwatosa
Over the past few years, the Wauwatosa Forestry Department has been working with the City’s geographic information system (GIS) manager to inventory City trees into a GIS database.
The results have been transformational for the forestry department allowing staff to update tree inventory and manage department work functions such as tree removal, pruning and planting from the field in real-time via any mobile device with an internet connection.
Continue reading “New Wauwatosa Forestry Dashboard Educates Residents About Area’s Urban Forest”
By Brian Anderson, forest inventory analyst, Rhinelander, 715-499-3291
Every year, the forest inventory data from the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program is assessed to track trends in Wisconsin’s forest resources. This information is summarized in several reports. The Wisconsin’s Forest Resources report gives a broad overview of the current state of —and trends in — Wisconsin’s forests over time, including easy-to-read figures and tables. Furthermore, it provides links to other more detailed tables, including acreages of forest types and timberland by attributes such as county, stand-size class, and ownership.
In addition to the resources report, all major species in the state are summarized. The summaries include key trends, including changes in volume, and tree numbers by size and diameter class. The summaries provide details on where specific species grow, by both state region and habitat-type group. Managers and industry personnel will also find pertinent information, such as net growth, mortality, and harvest removals over time. Finally, key health issues are summarized for a given species and projections are given for growing-stock volume over the next 40 years.
Check out the statewide summary, species reports, and other specific data tables in our Annual Reports and Publications hub.
The US Forest Service and several key partners are offering an on-line training program called the i-Tree Academy, designed to introduce i-Tree tools to a class of 35 participants. The Academy instruction will be delivered by experienced members of the i-Tree project team, focused on helping users utilize the i-Tree software suite of tools which can be used to inventory, assess and report on the value of urban forests and greenspace.
The course will be approximately 4 months in length and includes bi-monthly online web sessions, self-paced learning modules, assignments, and completion of a student project. Students will be able to focus on a specific urban forestry issue of interest to them. The required two-hour web sessions will occur twice each month, 12:00 to 2:00 Eastern time.
The course begins on January 22, 2020, and registration must be completed by January 3rd. To learn more and to register for the course, visit the Urban Natural Resources Institute website.
Wisconsin may be best known for our cheese, lakes and beer, but did you know that we are second in the country for number of Tree City USA communities?! Last year 195 Wisconsin communities achieved Tree City USA status, and those communities are home to nearly 60% of Wisconsinites. Wouldn’t it be something if we were number one in the country this year?! Well, here’s our chance – the application period for Arbor Day Foundation’s (ADF) recognition programs, including Tree City USA and Tree Campus USA, is now open! Continue reading “Arbor Day Foundation now accepting Tree City USA applications!”
How does a community manage to increase its street and park tree species diversity by 445% without spending ANY public funds to purchase trees?!! Look no further than the Village of Cambridge, WI (pop. 1,500) for an answer.
Continue reading “Cambridge Tree Project”
