The Wisconsin Urban Forestry Insider
An electronic newsletter of breaking news and valuable information for the Urban Forest community in Wisconsin and beyond.
The community of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan has taken a proactive approach in managing their ash tree resource.
WDNR Photo by Jeff Roe
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June 27, 2008
This issue's contents:
Special Feature
Specifically Wisconsin
Emerald Ash Borer
- WI EAB Toolkit Updated
- Illinois EAB Newsletter
- Loan Fund to Aid EAB Fight - ChicagoTribune.com
- Chicago Reacts to EAB - ChicagoTribune.com
- Natural Predators and EAB- Noblesville Daily Times
Tools For Your Job
Conferences & Seminars
EAB Stories Shared... Lessons Learned
The WDNR urban forestry staff spent two days visiting communities in southern Michigan and northern Ohio to learn firsthand how communities are responding to emerald ash borer infestation. Michigan DNR and Ohio DNR and Extension staff arranged for the group to meet with representatives of eight communities, each employing an assortment of management options to address staggering tree mortality and critical wood waste and utilization issues. Several themes emerged as communities shared the lessons they have learned. The following 10-part series compiled by DNR urban forestry staff shares the stories and provides supplemental information such as specific examples, ideas you can implement, documents, web sites and more. The following entry is the first in a series of ten the Urban Forestry Insider will carry.
DNR Urban Forestry Staff Changes
Al Zelaya , former Southeast Regional Urban Forestry Coordinator has accepted a position with The Davey Institute's Environmental Strategies Group. His initial responsibilities will be to support and advance the i-Tree Cooperative Program which provides communities with free tools to quantify and manage the structure, function and value of community trees. Many folks have heard of these tools, few have used them. Once settled-in Al will share his new contact information with Southeast Regional Urban Forestry Coordinator, Kim Sebastian and extends an open invitation for folks to contact him in the future.
WI EAB Toolkit Updated
The Emerald Ash Borer Toolkit for Wisconsin Communities has been updated. For the latest version or to review the items that have been revised and/or added visit:
EAB Toolkit Scroll to browse and select view "individual electronic toolkit files."
Illinois EAB Newsletter
Current information on Illinois EAB efforts are reported in the June issue of the Illinois EAB newsletter.
IL EAB [exit DNR] (select news in the left sidebar)
Loan Fund to Aid EAB Fight - ChicagoTribune.com
Standing near a Chicago tree being slowly killed by the emerald ash borer, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced a low-interest loan fund to help communities fight the insect. The fund has no money yet, though, and Durbin allowed that the scale of the damage could carry a staggering price tag in Chicago alone, which has about 600,000 of the trees.
Chicago Reacts to EAB - ChicagoTribune.com
With the buzz of a chain saw and a thick, short crack, the first Chicago victim of the emerald ash borer fell a few minutes after noon on Thursday, June 20. Workers cut down trees in hope of halting spread.
Natural Predators and EAB- Noblesville Daily Times
Three species of wasps collected from ash trees in China have the potential to save ash trees in North America. In June, Purdue University researchers, armed with permits from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, began to release 200 of the first wasp species into an Indiana ash forest.
Wasp Release in Indiana [exit DNR]
Northeast Region Wisconsin Forest Pest Update
June pest update by Linda Williams
Topics include:
- Insects:
- Eastern Tent Caterpillar
- Emerald Ash Borer
- Gypsy Moth
- Redheaded Ash Borer
- Yellowheaded Spruce Sawfly
- Diseases:
- Annosum
- Diplodia
- Early Ash Leaf Drop
- Pine Needle Rust
- Other:
- Frost/Freeze Damage
- Wisconsin Forestry Notes (newsletter)
UW-Extension Plant Clinic Update
UW-Extension/Madison Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic (PDDC) receives plant samples from around the state. The following disease/disorders have been identified at the PDDC during the past two weeks.
Putting Ash to Use - Lawn & Landscape
Emerald ash borer (EAB) need not spell the end of an ash tree's "life." The Illinois Emerald Ash Borer Wood Utilization Team has taken great strides toward creating a positive from a negative: that is, to create a marketplace for wood from EAB-felled trees.
Urban Trees = Clean Air
Trees improve neighborhoods by providing beauty and shade. Trees can also help to reduce harmful levels of air pollution. Urban tree planting is now being considered as a long-term air quality improvement strategy. What does this mean? How could this change the cities where we live and work?
Join a stakeholders roundtable on July 14 from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm at the Chicago Center for Green Technology Training Center 445 N. Sacramento Blvd.Chicago, Illinois to learn more about this innovative strategy for a healthy urban environment.
Urban Trees=Clean Air [PDF, 123KB]
More Conferences & Seminars
For more conferences and seminars check out WDNR's Urban Forest website.
About the Insider
The Wisconsin Urban Forestry Insider is intended as a quick networking tool for all people actively working in the area of urban and community forestry, especially in the state of Wisconsin.
Items that cannot wait for our quarterly print newsletter, Wisconsin Urban & Community Forests, will appear here.
The Insider is produced biweekly by the Urban and Community Forestry program of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, Wisconsin. Past issues will be archived on the UF pages on the WDNR web site.
We are happy to accept your suggestions and contributions. Send them to the editor, at Laura.Wyatt@Wisconsin.gov. Or call her: 608/267-0568.
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