Join other women landowners on Saturday, April 21st from 9-4 at Kickapoo Valley Reserve in LaFarge, WI. You’ll learn first-hand about creating wildlife habitat, managing invasive species and resources available to help you manage your woods through this valuable workshop and field tour. All knowledge and experience levels welcome. Cost is just $10 and includes lunch and snacks. For more information and to register online visit womenandwoodlands.eventbrite.com
Woodland owners
Updated forest health fact sheet – conifer bark beetle
Spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis). Photo: Edward H. Holsten, USDA FS, Bugwood.org
The Division of Forestry’s forest health team recently updated another forest health fact sheet about conifer bark beetles. Like the oak wilt and hickory dieback and mortality fact sheets revised earlier this year, the conifer bark beetle publication offers information about biology, impact, prevention and management of the insects. The conifer bark beetle fact sheet is available on the DNR’s forest health webpage.
Written by: Mike Hillstrom, forest health specialist, Wisconsin Dells. Michael.Hillstrom@Wisconsin.gov; 608-513-7690
New way of implementing tax law programs announced
As part of the DNR Strategic Alignment, the Division of Forestry has consolidated the tax law programs (Managed Forest Law and Forest Crop Law) and associated work into fewer positions under a new Tax Law section. This section will focus on the tax law programs, allowing us to better meet our customers’ needs. Continue reading “New way of implementing tax law programs announced”
Oak wilt and hickory mortality Forest Health Fact Sheets are available
The forest health program is in the process of updating some of our publications as Forest Health Fact Sheets. These publications offer biology, impact, prevention and management information about specific threats to forest health. Our new oak wilt fact sheet and hickory dieback and mortality fact sheet are currently available on the DNR’s forest health oak wilt and bark beetle webpages and will be available in the DNR’s online publications catalog in the near future. Enjoy!
Written by: Mike Hillstrom, forest health specialist, Wisconsin Dells (Michael.Hillstrom@Wisconsin.gov), 715-459-1371.
DNR shipping trees; last chance to purchase seedlings
DNR’s reforestation program is busy harvesting seedlings from our nursery fields and shipping them to woodland owners throughout the state. If you own forest land in Wisconsin and still need seedlings for planting this spring, contact Carey Skerven (carey.skerven@wisconsin.gov) as soon as possible or call the Wilson Nursery (608-375-4123) in Boscobel or the Griffith Nursery (715-424-3700) in Wisconsin Rapids. We will do our best to fill your orders. Here are the species still available as of April 3:
Conifers: Jack pine 1-0, red pine 2-0, white pine 2-0, tamarack 2-0, and white cedar 3-0.
Hardwoods: Aspen 1-0, river birch 2-0, butternut 1-0, black cherry 1-0 and 2-0, hackberry 1-0, bitternut hickory 2-0, shagbark hickory 3-0, hard maple 2-0, red maple 2-0, silver maple 1-0 and 2-0, red oak 2-0, and black walnut 1-0.
Shrubs: Chokecherry 1-0, ninebark 1-0, and American plum 1-0.
For more information, contact Jeremiah Auer at (715) 459-1999 or jeremiah.auer@wisconsin.gov
Ice damage to yard and forest trees
Ice coating an urban tree from a late February 2017 storm in south central Wisconsin.
Several ice storms have impacted yard and forest trees in southern Wisconsin in 2016/2017. The combination of trees coated in heavy ice and strong winds caused broken branches and bent or broken main stems. Working with storm damaged trees can be very dangerous, so landowners should carefully consider safety concerns and get help from professional arborists or foresters when appropriate. Continue reading “Ice damage to yard and forest trees”