Taking action

Recognizing Wisconsin’s Tree City, Tree Campus, and Tree Line USA participants

Posted on by patricialindquist

We deeply appreciate the commitment to urban forestry demonstrated by our 2019 Tree City, Tree Campus, and Tree Line USA participants. Thank you for your hard work!

2019 Tree City USA Communities – City (years): Adams (25), Albany (16), Algoma (19), Allouez (24), Altoona, City of (1), Amery (4), Amherst (23), Antigo (27), Appleton (36), Ashwaubenon (27), Athens, Village of (1), Baldwin (13), Baraboo (28), Barron (2), Bayfield (20), Bayside (12), Beaver Dam (29), Belgium (8), Bellevue (17), Beloit (32), Beloit, Town of (3), Brillion (20), Bristol (8), Brodhead (7), Brookfield (22), Brooklyn, Village of (7), Brown Deer (23), Burlington (19), Cambridge (14), Cedarburg (30), Chenequa (35), Chilton (26), Chippewa Falls (34), Clinton (17), Clintonville (30), Columbus (14), Combined Locks (27), Cottage Grove (24), Cudahy (29), De Pere (24), Deforest (15), Delafield (23), 

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Report surviving elm in the forest

Posted on by margueriterapp

You can help keep native elm trees in the forests of Wisconsin! The US Forest Service continues to work on a project to identify Dutch elm disease (DED)-tolerant American elms native to Wisconsin forests. The goal of the project is to identify and propagate survivor American elms, especially from the colder hardiness zones 3-4, and develop a series of clone banks. Selections would eventually be screened for tolerance to DED. Ultimately, the goal is to make DED-tolerant American elm available for reforestation in northern areas, particularly as a component on sites currently forested by black ash.

If you live in hardiness zones 3 and 4, please look for evidence of surviving elms and report them to the US Forest Service.

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Outdoor Hazards in Wisconsin: A Guide to Insects, Plants, and Wildlife

Posted on by patricialindquist

Published by UW-Madison, Division of Extension, this guide will help you recognize, avoid, and handle potential problems caused by wildlife, insects, or plants.

Contents:

  • Amphibians (salamanders, toads)
  • Reptiles (turtles, snakes)
  • Birds (defending territory, handling birds)
  • Mammals (short-tailed shrews, bats, skunks, porcupines, coyotes, gray wolves, deer, black bears)
  • Stinging insects (bees and wasps)
  • Blood-feeding insects (mosquitoes, deerflies and horseflies, blackflies, biting midges, ticks, chiggers)

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Updated emerald ash borer silviculture guidelines now available

Posted on by margueriterapp

By Bill McNee, forest health specialist, Oshkosh, bill.mcnee@wisconsin.gov, 920-360-0942

The Division of Forestry has completed a revision of the emerald ash borer silviculture guidelines to help foresters prepare for and respond to the arrival of emerald ash borer (EAB) in a forest stand.

Cover page of new guidelines. Continue reading “Updated emerald ash borer silviculture guidelines now available” →

Celebrate Arbor Day – plant a tree from your couch!

Posted on by patricialindquist

Happy Arbor Day! Join us in celebrating from home today. Post a photo of your favorite tree on social media, tag @arborday, and use the hashtag #arbordayathome. The Arbor Day Foundation will plant a tree on your behalf.

Learn more at celebratearborday.com.

For more tips on how to honor Arbor Day using social media, check out this recent DNR newsletter post.

 

Celebrate Arbor Day using social media (check out our suggested posts below)

Posted on by patricialindquist

To keep everyone safe and healthy during this pandemic, the Arbor Day Foundation is suspending the requirement to hold a public Arbor Day celebration in 2020. Communities will be able to maintain their Tree City/Campus/Line designations without meeting this standard.

As an alternative to a public gathering, we encourage you to use social media to celebrate trees and their many benefits. Social media is an excellent tool for spreading the message that trees and tree care/management are vitally important to our communities. You could design your own campaign on a theme such as the health benefits of trees or how to properly plant a tree, or you could simply copy one or more of the messages below.

Feel free to cut and paste the following text and photos for your own social media campaign for Arbor Day – or any day of the year!

Message #1: (only valid through Arbor Day, April 24th): Celebrate Arbor Day by planting a tree from your couch! Post a photo of your favorite tree on social media, tag @arborday, and use the hashtag #arbordayathome. The Arbor Day Foundation will plant a tree on your behalf. Learn more at celebratearborday.com.

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Prepare for the return of gypsy moths in spring

Posted on by margueriterapp

By Bill McNee, DNR forest health specialist, Oshkosh, bill.mcnee@wisconsin.gov, 920-360-0942

Gypsy moth eggs are expected to start hatching as temperatures warm in the next few weeks. Now is a great time for homeowners to check their trees for egg masses and treat or remove any that are found. Removing the egg masses now will help protect trees from defoliation and reduce future caterpillar populations.

Gypsy moth larvae hatching from egg masses on an outdoor bowl.

Gypsy moth larvae hatching from egg masses on an outdoor bowl.

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Hope for the future: Barron’s storm story

Posted on by patricialindquist

By Brad Johnson, DNR regional urban forestry coordinator, Spooner, BradleyDJohnson@wisconsin.gov, 715-410-8299

Within a short period of time, from the Jamie Closs tragedy to the violent wind storm of July 2019, the people of Barron, Wisconsin have had to endure unprecedented hardship. They are looking forward to better days ahead. Hope for the future is just what Barron is experiencing as they clean up from the storm and rebuild their urban tree resource. The DNR Urban Forestry team has contributed to these efforts with their expertise and financial support; in the past year, Barron has received a total of $55,000 in DNR Urban Forestry grants.

Barron inventoried all of its public trees in May 2019 with financial help from the DNR, who paid for a consultant as part of a pilot program. Unfortunately, a violent straight-line windstorm damaged and blew down 25% of Barron’s public trees on July 19, 2019.  Barron again had to pick itself up in the face of adversity and with the help of additional DNR funding, reinventoried its trees and wrote a plan of attack on how to rebuild its decimated urban tree canopy.

The updated tree inventory is a crucial component of Barron’s recovery plan. According to Liz Jacobson, Barron City Manager, “Accomplishing a tree inventory is helping us know where we are at, and where we need to go.”

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Extreme cold event challenges tree trials

Posted on by patricialindquist

By Jay Weiss, Cambridge Tree Project, www.cambridgetreeproject.org

Red horse chestnut, Cambridge

It was a cold, still night January 31, 2019 when the air temperature dropped to -32 in Cambridge, Wisconsin. According to village elders, the last time it got that cold was the 1950s.

With this record setting event, we had a rigorous laboratory to assess hardiness among the wide variety of tree species under evaluation in our trials.

Immediately below is a written summary of some our findings. Detailed survival rates, along with annual growth rates of 98 species being evaluated locally, are recorded in an excel document that I am happy to share upon request (email me at info(at)cambridgetreeproject.org).

SURVIVORS:

  • Bald Cypress: all 26 of our street and park trees survived. No dieback was noted.
  • Dawn Redwood: 11 trees survived with no dieback. Two trees were killed outright.

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Nominations Open For “Invader Crusader” Awards

Posted on by margueriterapp

By Tara Bergeson, DNR invasive species team leader, 608-264-6043, Tara.Bergeson@wisconsin.gov

Nominations are being accepted through March 23, 2020 for “Invader Crusaders.” These awards go to individuals, groups and organizations who made outstanding contributions in 2019 to prevent, control or eradicate invasive species that harm Wisconsin’s native wildlife and wetlands, forests, prairies, lakes and rivers.

The Wisconsin Invasive Species Council is seeking nominations for exemplary efforts at addressing issues surrounding terrestrial and aquatic invasive plants and animals. The awards will be presented in both volunteer and professional categories.

To submit a nomination, download and fill out a nomination form available on the Wisconsin Invasive Species Council’s Invader Crusader webpage. Email the completed form to invasive.species@wisconsin.gov by March 23.

A panel of Wisconsin Invasive Species Council members will review the nomination materials and select the award winners. All nominators and winners will be notified by mid-May 2020.

Recipients of the awards will be recognized at an awards ceremony on June 11 at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison.

Invasive species are nonnative plants and animals that cause great ecological, environmental or economic harm, and some can even affect human health. Once an invasive species becomes established in an area, it can be difficult to control. The most important action Wisconsinites should take is to avoid moving invasive species or the materials that might harbor them to new places.

To learn more about what you can do to stop the spread of invasive species, visit the DNR invasive species webpage.