For many years the Urban and Community Forestry Program has maintained the Urban Forestry Consultants Directory, a document containing contact information and services provided by consultants who have made themselves known to DNR. Each May, we ask those listed to review their information and submit any necessary updates. We also welcome new submittals at this time, and throughout the year! Continue reading “Urban Forestry Consultant Directory – Annual update request”
Urban wood
Celebrate Arbor Day: Successes across the state
Kids climb at Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison
Like a child grows from birth to toddler to adulthood, a tree grows from seed to sapling to mature tree. As we nurture and care for our children as they grow, we must also for trees. This year there were several Arbor Day celebrations hosted across the state, all aiming to increase the publics knowledge of how to cherish and cultivate trees. Continue reading “Celebrate Arbor Day: Successes across the state”
Urban Forestry awards second round of grants
The DNR Urban Forestry Grant program awarded $64,641.14 to four Wisconsin communities for urban forestry projects, during our 2018 second round funding. In order to ensure a pool of catastrophic storm funds throughout the year, we have switched to awarding grants in two rounds instead of awarding all of our funds in December. The communities who received grants in the spring include Beaver Dam, Grafton, North Central Wisconsin Master Gardeners Association, and Slinger. Continue reading “Urban Forestry awards second round of grants”
Providing affordable trees to homeowners in Cambridge
Jay Weiss created the Cambridge Tree Project to supply affordable and interesting trees and shrubs to homeowners to help fund landscaping in Cambridge and Rockdale schools, street and parks. The program was founded over ten years ago with a couple of simple goals: (1) add 1,000 living trees to Cambridge Village forest by 2020, and (2) increase species diversity of the community forest. Cambridge is working towards these goals by consistently offering a variety of tree species for purchase. The trees are available to anyone, regardless of where they live, but the trees must be purchased at the spring sale. Continue reading “Providing affordable trees to homeowners in Cambridge”
Figure out when your trees will bloom
The Morton Arboretum is releasing information monthly on growing degree days. Plants, insects and fungi all develop at various times depending on temperature. Development will speed up or slow down depending on the rise and fall of temperature. Several studies have worked to understand the relationship between heat and development. These studies and information from them help anticipate flowering of trees and shrubs and the emergence of insects based on how many growing days have accumulated. Continue reading “Figure out when your trees will bloom”
Celebrate Arbor Day: give back to your community
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.
Continue reading “Celebrate Arbor Day: give back to your community”
How are communities handling EAB across Wisconsin?
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has recently issued a statewide quarantine for emerald ash borer (EAB), regulating the pest in Wisconsin. Since the menace has already affected 48 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, many municipalities have been acting on EAB management plans they set into place, including the City of Racine and Ozaukee county have been managing the pest.
Continue reading “How are communities handling EAB across Wisconsin?”
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding available
The U.S. Forest Service anticipates approximately $3.7 million in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding will be available for tree planting and restoring native vegetation in the Great Lakes Basin. Continue reading “Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding available”
Communities encourage planting through tree lists
Communities across the state are reaching out to their citizens and encouraging them to plant trees in their own yards, greening the community with both yard and street trees. The Village of Bayside and the Village of Greenfield are accomplishing this through “Adopt-A-Tree” programs and species lists.
Continue reading “Communities encourage planting through tree lists”
New! Statewide quarantine for emerald ash borer
by Jodie Ellis, Forest Health Team, communications specialist, Jodie.Ellis@wisconsin.gov, 608-266-2172
An emerald ash borer adult.
Photo: Leah Bauer, USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Bugwood.org
A statewide quarantine of the invasive insect emerald ash borer (EAB) will go into effect on March 30, 2018. Previously, individual counties were quarantined when EAB was confirmed within each’s borders. Since EAB has been found in 48 of 72 Wisconsin counties, officials have determined that statewide regulation of the devastating ash tree pest is warranted.
Movement of ash wood, untreated ash products and hardwood firewood of any type to areas outside of Wisconsin will continue to be regulated by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine. (APHIS PPQ).
Within the state, Wisconsin businesses and members of the public will be able to freely move ash wood, ash products, and hardwood firewood to or from any Wisconsin county. Firewood restrictions will remain in effect on state and federal lands.
Items affected by the statewide EAB quarantine include ash wood with bark attached, larger ash wood chips, and hardwood firewood of any kind. County-by-county quarantines for gypsy moth, another invasive forest pest, remain in effect.
The move to a statewide quarantine does not mean that the state has given up on managing EAB; it is simply a shift in strategy as EAB continues its slow spread through the state. The Wisconsin DNR will continue releasing tiny, stingless wasps -natural enemies of EAB – at appropriate sites, which it has done since 2011. The DNR also continues participation in silvicultural trials in which different ash management strategies are being tested.
Most importantly, campers, tourists, and other members of the public are strongly encouraged to continue taking care when moving firewood within the state. “The actions taken by the Wisconsin public during the last few years have significantly slowed the spread of emerald ash borer and other invasive forest pests in the state,” said Wisconsin DNR EAB program manager Andrea Diss-Torrance. “We can continue to protect the numerous areas within our state that are not yet infested – including those in our own backyards – from tree-killing pests and diseases by following precautions.” Public members should continue to obtain firewood near campgrounds or cabins where they intend to burn it, or buy firewood that bears the DATCP-certified mark, meaning it has been properly seasoned or heat-treated to kill pests.
Emerald ash borer is native to China and probably entered the United States on packing material, showing up first in Michigan in 2002. It was first found in eastern Wisconsin in 2008.
For further information on EAB in Wisconsin, visit https://dnr.wi.gov/, using key words “emerald ash borer”.