The following article was written by Elizabeth Dierickx, Marketing Specialist at Plan-It Geo, LLC, based on conversations she has had with DNR staff members.
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Dan Buckler, DNR Urban Forest Assessment Specialist and Laura Lorentz, DNR Urban Forestry Policy & Partnership Specialist to talk about Wisconsin’s new Community Tree Map. This exciting tool has brought a lot of new excitement and opportunity to the states community forests; the Community Tree Map has the potential to assists the urban forestry team in developing policies based on data driven analysis, has given them a better tool to make recommendations, and helped to create awareness about the urban forest with community members and decision makers. Continue reading “Conversations about the Wisconsin Community Tree Map”
The Urban Forestry team hosted Valerie McClannahan from the Minnesota DNR on September 25th and 26th. Valerie was particularly interested in our Urban Forest Assessment program, the urban wood industry in Wisconsin, and general programmatic items. During her visit, we highlighted the Wisconsin Community Tree Map and the Capital Park inventory, our UFIA program, our canopy assessment project, and the urban homeowner survey. She is interested in how Minnesota can leverage some of their existing work and incorporate some of the additional pieces we are developing for statewide assessments. 
Join the WAA (Wisconsin Arborist Association) for their Summer Conference and Picnic at the Lussier Family Heritage Center in Madison on Tuesday, August 15th. The Program Committee has put together another excellent lineup for this event. They are offering Two Tracks of Education, one indoors and one outdoors, including information for climbers, plant selection, and insect and disease information. There will be something for everyone.
The Urban Wood Network, a multi-state collaborative project that is promoting full-circle urban forest management, recently announced its 
Green Tier, a voluntary program administered by the DNR, works with entities conducting their business beyond compliance requirements and looking for ways to improve. Currently there are 82 participants with 248 facilities in the program along with six Green Tier Charters, including the