The Wisconsin Urban Forestry Insider
An electronic newsletter of breaking news and valuable information for the Urban Forest community in Wisconsin and beyond.
Oak wilt woodlot
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August 23, 2006
This issue's contents:
In the News
- Arborist Killed in Work-related Accident (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Annapolis, Maryland Strives for 50% Urban Tree Canopy
- Trees are Stripped for Medicinal Bark (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Nominations Sought for National Urban & Community Forestry Advisory Council
Specifically Wisconsin
- Signs of Oak Wilt Showing Up in Infected Trees
- Northeast Region Forest Pest Update-August 15, 2006
- South Central Region/Southeast Region Forest Health Update Vol. 3 No. 4
- A Forest of Diversity (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Funds Earmarked for Trees Criticized (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Emerald Ash Borer
- Researcher Studies Tree Rings to Learn EAB Patterns (The State News) News item
- Tree-killing Ash Borer Already May be Among Us (The Janesville Gazette)
- State Workers Seek Voracious Beetles in Local Counties (The Janesville Gazette)
- Illinois Maps Battle Plan for Ash Borer (Chicago Tribune)
- Chicago Establishes EAB Trap Trees (Chicago Tribune)
- EAB Emerges Again in Maryland
Tools For Your Job
- Quantifying the Value of Stormwater Services Provided by Trees
- An Assessment of Buckthorn Control Methods
Funding Opportunities
Conferences & Seminars
Arborist Killed in Work-related Accident (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Jeremiah Sanders, owner of J's Quality Tree Service was tragically killed when he was pulled through a wood chipper in Pleasant Prairie, WI. Carelessness and faulty equipment were to blame for the accident.
Annapolis, Maryland Strives for 50% Urban Tree Canopy
Annapolis, Maryland is pushing to become a nationwide leader in city tree canopy coverage within 30 years. A report prepared by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and other outside agencies has recommended the city adopt a goal of 50 percent urban tree canopy by 2036. The report found the existing tree coverage in Annapolis stands at 41 percent, which shows the city is doing very well, according to the report.
Annapolis Strives for 50% Tree Canopy
Trees are Stripped for Medicinal Bark (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Slippery elms in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky have fallen victim to thieves who remove bark for profits in the lucrative herbal-remedy market. The gummy lining of the bark has long been used in North America, and especially Appalachia, as a soothing agent for coughs, gastrointestinal ailments and skin irritations. But now, slippery elm and other herbal products that were once used seasonally by locals are in demand by millions.
Trees Stripped for Medicinal Bark
Nominations Sought for National Urban & Community Forestry Advisory Council
The US Forest Service is seeking nominations for the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council. Nominations are due by September 13. Nominations for the following positions would serve three-year terms from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2009:
- Person representing a national non-profit forestry and conservation citizen organization.
- Person representing city/town government;
- Person representing academic institutions with an expertise in urban and community forestry activities;
- Person who is not an officer or employee of any governmental body who is a resident of a community with a population of less than 50,000 as of the most recent census and has expertise and has been active in urban and community forestry.
Forestry Advisory Council Nominations
Signs of Oak Wilt Showing Up in Infected Trees
The first signs of oak wilt, a tree-killing fungal disease, are now appearing in infected trees. Oak wilt occurs in the southern two-thirds of Wisconsin and affects trees in both the red oak and white oak groups.
"The first symptoms of oak wilt are branches with wilted leaves and leaves on the ground in summer when you wouldn't't expect to see them," said Kyoko Scanlon, a forest health specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. "These are not the brown, dry leaves you see in the fall. These are partially green to bronze-green and are not completely dry."
Northeast Region Forest Pest Update-August 15, 2006
Topics covered in this update:
Insects:
- Barklice
- EAB web site by UW Extension
- EAB found in Evanston, IL
- Elm Sawfly
- Fall Webworm
- Jack Pine Budworm on Red Pine in WCR
- Lacebug damage
- Oak Twig Pruner
- Pitch Mass Borer
- Redheaded Pine Sawfly
Diseases:
- Annosum Root Rot in Waushara Co.
- Aspen leaf disease
- Oak Wilt symptoms showing up
- Pestalotiopsis on cedar
Other:
- Carbofuran pesticide cancellation
- Lindane pesticide cancellation
- Timber harvests and oak wilt
- Wind damage
Northeast Region Forest Pest Update
South Central Region/Southeast Region Forest Health Update Vol. 3 No. 4
Topics in this update:
- Japanese beetle feeding on birch
- Hail damage and possible diplodia infection affecting red pine in Columbia County
- Fall webworm making webs
- Jumping oak galls on oak leaves
- Gypsy moth update and forecast for 2006
- Exotic pests new detection reports
- Another new Emerald Ash Borer Find in Illinois
- The Pathogen of Sudden Oak Death found in Indiana
South Central Region Forest Health Update
A Forest of Diversity (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
An urban forest planted with a diverse variety of trees often softens the blow when tree pests and diseases strike. The arrival of the emerald ash borer near Wisconsin's southern border and its resulting damage to ash trees is a wake-up call from nature, reminding us that planting too many of one kind of tree is an invitation to trouble.
Funds Earmarked for Trees Criticized (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
A taxpayers' group took a chop today at federal funding for planting trees on Milwaukee Public Schools grounds. But Mayor Tom Barrett's office defended the program as a way to improve the environment by reducing the storm water runoff that leads to sewage overflows.
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation held a news conference at O'Donnell Park to attack a provision in the Interior Department appropriations bill that earmarks $350,000 for urban tree planting by Greening Milwaukee
Researcher Studies Tree Rings to Learn EAB Patterns (The State News) News item
In coming months Michigan State University researchers could know how fast emerald ash borer populations move, how fast their populations grow and even when the beetles first arrived in the United States. Nathan Siegert, a visiting research associate in forest entomology, began sampling tree rings in 2004 over an area of 5,800 square miles in southeast Michigan with the goal of mapping the ash borer's spread.
Siegert, with the help of a handful of students, uses dendrochronology - or the study of tree ring patterns - to compare the tree rings in the trunks of healthy trees with the rings of trees that were infected with emerald ash borers.
Tree Rings Reveal Ash Borer Patterns
Tree-killing Ash Borer Already May be Among Us (The Janesville Gazette)
It's called the emerald ash borer. That's a pretty name for a bug responsible for the deaths of 20 million trees over four years in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Maybe that's why it's known by its initials:EAB. People in the tree business fear that EAB-infested ash wood will touch off an infestation somewhere in Wisconsin. The big wait. Wisconsin remains EAB-free, as far as anyone knows.
State Workers Seek Voracious Beetles in Local Counties (The Janesville Gazette)
In response to emerald ash borer sightings in Illinois, the UW Extension has hired two individuals to seek signs of EAB in Rock County. The pair are Wisconsin's scouts in the coming war against EAB, along with employees of the DNR and state agriculture department, who also are surveying trees.
Illinois Maps Battle Plan for Ash Borer (Chicago Tribune)
Fresh from a trip to Michigan to survey devastation wrought by the emerald ash borer, state agriculture officials have come up with a plan to help control the insect in Illinois. The initial plan of action against the tiny metallic green tree-killing beetle will focus on early detection, said Warren Goetsch, state agriculture division manager of natural resources.
Chicago Establishes EAB Trap Trees (Chicago Tribune)
The emerald ash borer beetle hasn't been officially found in Chicago, but odds are it will be. In anticipation, the Illinois Department of Agriculture has begun "destructive surveys"--cutting down trees and stripping off the bark on some North Side ash trees to look for signs of the dreaded beetles.
Chicago Establishes Trap Trees
EAB Emerges Again in Maryland
On August 14, the Maryland Department of Agriculture harvested all 100 trees that were planted across the state in 2006 as part of the on-going surveillance for the emerald ash borer. The trees were harvested and completely stripped of bark. One of 20 trees planted inside the 1/2 mile buffer in Brandywine was infested with three EAB larvae.
Quantifying the Value of Stormwater Services Provided by Trees
The Natural Resources Conservation Service, historically, and the Center for Watershed Protection, more recently, have deemed forest cover to be the best use of land for water shortage, recharge, runoff reduction, pollutant reduction and habitat. Learn how green infrastructure manages stormwater runoff. This article offers stormwater managers tools to quantify the benefits of of using tree canopy in their stormwater management practices and highlights communities that are using these techniques.
Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Services
An Assessment of Buckthorn Control Methods
This study compares the effectiveness of different methods of buckthorn control. It concludes that neither physical nor chemical methods alone are optimal, but a combination of cutting or girding with certain herbicides is best.
Urban Forest Project Funding Opportunity
The National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council is offering approximately $1 million in grant funds through the 2007 Challenge Cost-Share Grant Program to fund urban and community forestry projects that have a national or widespread impact and application. Requests for pre-proposals (RFP) for the 2007 Challenge Cost-Share Grant Program are due September 6, 2006.
Challenge Cost-Share Pre-proposals
DNR Urban Forestry Grants
Applications for the 2007 DNR Urban Forestry Grants program are available. The purpose of the grant program is to fund projects that improve a community's capacity to manage its trees. The applicant may be a city, village, town, county, tribal government, or 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Joint applications are encouraged.
The Wisconsin Urban Forestry Grant program is a 50-50 cost-share program. The grant recipient, or sponsor, uses its own resources (cash, in-kind services, and/or donations) to fund the entire cost of the project. Upon project completion and approval, the sponsor requests reimbursement for 50 percent of eligible costs up to the approved amount of the grant award. Nonprofit organizations may ask for half of their total grant as an advance at the time of award, but otherwise grants are not provided up front.
Application deadline is October 2, 2006.
More Information on Conferences and Seminars
For more conferences and seminars check out WDNR's Urban Forestry Web site.
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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