The Wisconsin Urban Forestry Insider
An electronic newsletter of breaking news and valuable information for the Urban Forest community in Wisconsin and beyond.
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July 31, 2009
Photo courtesy of American Forests.
This issue's contents:
In the News
- Search for the Largest US Trees
- Mapping America's Giant Trees - Forestry Resource Center
- Impact of Landscape/Trees on Home Values
- San Francisco Forestry Plan on Fast Track - San Francisco Examiner
- First Validated Tree-Planting Under VCS - Ecosystem Marketplace Green
Specifically Wisconsin
Emerald Ash Borer
- EAB Caught in Green Bay Trap
- Officials Warn Of Ash Borer Scams-Channel3000.com
- Ash Borer Found in Crawford County -LaCrosseTribune.com
- EAB Contained in Two Areas-For Now - JSOnline
- Area Still Safe from Emerald Ash Borer - Green Bay Press Gazette
- Ash Quarantine Adds to Industry Woes
Tools For Your Job
- Plant Disease Diagnostics Clinic Update
- South Central and Southeast Regions Forest Health Update
- Forest Health Watch-Hickory Mortality
Conferences & Seminars
- UW-Ext Garlic Mustard Control Field Research Tour - Peninsula State Park
- Field Day at West Madison Research Station
Search for the Largest US Trees
Continuing a tradition begun in 1940, AMERICAN FORESTS invites the public to help identify the largest of 861 species of trees for the 70th anniversary edition of The National Register of Big Trees. “You do not have to own the tree to nominate it. You merely have to locate and measure it,” said Deborah Gangloff, executive director of AMERICAN FORESTS. “Large trees can be awe-inspiring and breath-taking. They also provide far more ecological and community benefits than small trees, which is another important reason why this has been a signature program of AMERICAN FORESTS for more than half of our 134 years of conservation advocacy and tree planting.”
Big Tree nominations are due October 1st.
American Forests Big Trees [Exit DNR]
Wisconsin DNR's Champion Trees program with online search
Mapping America's Giant Trees - Forestry Resource Center
This project is designed to follow up research, in the Yosemite National Park, which suggests that giant trees are perishing as a result of climate change. An analysis of data collected over 60 years has led scientists from the University of Washington and the Yosemite Field Station of the US Geological Survey, to conclude that the density of large diameter trees fell by 24% between the 1930s and 1990s.
Mapping Giant Trees [Exit DNR]
Impact of Landscape/Trees on Home Values
Research published in the March issue of HRI's Journal of Environmental Horticulture shows upgrading home landscaping does increase property value.
Impacts of the quality of landscaping and percentage of tree cover on home prices were estimated from a sample of 75 home sales within the Melonie Park neighborhood in Lubbock, TX, from 2003 to 2005. Estimates were derived using a regression of house sale price on house characteristics, landscape quality, and tree cover. Homes that improved landscaping from average quality to good or excellent quality increased selling price by 5.7 and 10.8 percent, respectively. Approximately 30 percent of the increase in sale value was accounted for by added tree cover. The results show that each $1.00 invested in upgrading an average landscape to excellent quality returns $1.35 in added property value.
LandscapeTree Impact [Exit DNR]
San Francisco Forestry Plan on Fast Track - San Francisco Examiner
The San Francisco Environment Commission will vote on a resolution asking the Planning Department to make a priority of finishing The City’s long-term outline on maintaining urban green spaces, a project that has been halted recently due to budget constraints.
Trees increase revenues in shopping district by 12 percent, The City’s urban forest has a structural value of $1.7 billion, and San Francisco’s green spaces provide $4.4 million in hydrological benefits, according to the Department of the Environment.
San Francisco Tree Plan [Exit DNR]
First Validated Tree-Planting Under VCS - Ecosystem Marketplace
Norwegian forestry and carbon offset group Green Resources last week became the first carbon offset project developer to register a reforestation project under the Voluntary Carbon Standard's guidelines for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry, and land use. This week, a second project was also verified – and plenty of others are sure to follow.
Trees and Carbon Offsets [Exit DNR]
WDNR 2010 Urban Forestry Grants - Apply through October 5, 2009
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) continues to offer Urban Forestry grants that stimulate and support the development of urban forestry management programs. This year approximately $524,600 is available to Wisconsin cities, villages, towns, counties, tribal governments and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.
To be eligible for consideration, projects must relate to urban forestry. Grant awards range from $1,000 to $25,000 with a 50/50 match requirement. Projects may begin January 1, 2010 and must be completed no later than December 31, 2010.
EAB Caught in Green Bay Trap
The emerald ash borer has found its way to Titletown. An adult beetle was discovered in Green Bay on July 23 stuck to a survey trap in an ash tree on public land next to the Fox River, roughly a mile south of the bay.
Officials Warn Of Ash Borer Scams-Channel3000.com
Officials are warning residents of anyone trying to sell treatment for a problem that, so far, does not exist in many parts of the state. "There are professionals, Ph.D.s in entomology, who have difficulty doing this, so having somebody coming by in a truck and walking up on your property for the first time and pointing to your tree, saying you have EAB, that's very probable that they're somebody who doesn't know what they're doing," said Mike Maddox, with the UW Extension Rock County and Rotary Botanical Gardens. In the latest possible scam, an area resident was told there were EAB on an ash tree on the property. It was actually Japanese beetles on a birch tree. No ash trees existed on the property.
Ash Borer Found in Crawford County -LaCrosseTribune.com
A massive hunt for emerald ash borers has turned up evidence of the invasive beetle in Crawford County, officials said.
EAB in Crawford County [Exit DNR]
EAB Contained in Two Areas-For Now - JSOnline
An area in Vernon and Crawford counties in southwestern Wisconsin appears to have a larger emerald ash borer infestation than Ozaukee and Washington counties - the state's only other site known to be infected by the insect. (Editor note: this article appeared before the EAB find in Green Bay)
Area Still Safe from Emerald Ash Borer - Green Bay Press Gazette
Residents remain vigilant in watching for the emerald ash borer, but the tree-killing insect has not yet made its way to Green Bay. (Editor note: This article appeared on July 27, the day before the announcement of the first EAB find in northeastern WI. How quickly things change.)
Ash Quarantine Adds to Industry Woes
In Vernon County, where the discovery of the emerald ash borer led to the imposition of a quarantine this spring which means any ash moved out of the county must be stripped of bark and at least ½-inch of the underlying wood, where the invasive beetles live.
An extra half-inch may not sound like much, but it adds up. On a 14-inch log, Leer Wood Industries gets about 15 percent less usable lumber, said timber buyer Steve Paulski. To make things worse, the company had to truck the ash — cut from stands near Chaseburg and Romance — to Westby because closer mills don’t have the equipment to properly treat it.
“It’s costing everybody money, no question about it,” said company owner Steve Leer.
EAB Impact on Industry [Exit DNR]
Plant Disease Diagnostics Clinic Update
What plant diseases are appearing within Wisconsin landscapes? The UW-Extension/Madison Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic (PDDC) receives many plant samples from around the state. The following diseases/disorders have been identified at the PDDC since July 22, 2009:
South Central and Southeast Regions Forest Health Update
The latest area forest health update presented by Kyoko Scanlon.
Topics include:
- Gypsy moth updates – Mark Guthmiller
- EAB updates - Bill McNee
- Oak tatters and herbicide damage
- Hickory mortality
- Jumping oak gall
- White pine needle chlorosis
- Japanese beetle
- Leaf samples suspicious of bacterial leaf scorch needed
- Annosum root rot update
SCR & SER Forest Health Update
Forest Health Watch-Hickory Mortality
This collaborative effort of the USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area, Missouri Department of Conservation, and Indiana, Iowa and Illinois Departments of Natural Resources provides technical updates twice a year on forest health issues of regional interest. Useful information can also be found in previous editions, which are available on the www at http://na.fs.fed.us/fhp/fhw/csfhw/ . The July 2009 issue features an article on hickory mortality.
Forest Health Watch-July17 [Exit DNR]
UW-Ext Garlic Mustard Control Field Research Tour - Peninsula State Park
Last fall and early this spring, Peninsula State Park graciously hosted UW - Extension researchers and a series of garlic mustard control tests. These field studies, which also took place in Green Bay and La Crosse, involved testing different herbicides, different herbicide concentrations as well as the timing of the application. The results are being compiled and some consistencies are apparently emerging.
Join UW-Extension researchers on August 12th to view the test plots in Peninsula State Park and learn more about what researchers found and how you can apply the results to your little corner of Wisconsin. In order to help supply an appropriate number of handouts, preregistration is appreciated. See you in the Park.
Field Day at West Madison Research Station
Mark your calendar for Thursday, August 6, when UW’s West Madison Agricultural Research Station, in conjunction with the Commercial Flower Growers of Wisconsin (CFGW), will hold their Field Day for commercial greenhouse growers and garden centers. You are encouraged to take tours of the garden to see how various new varieties perform in our state’s climate. The event takes place from 9 am to 2 pm.
The guest speaker at this year’s Field Day will be Roy Klehm of Klehms’ Song Sparrow Perennial Farm. Some plants being trialed this year include lobelia, lantana and yellow calibrachoas. There is also a P. Allen Smith Garden, devoted to all but four of his Hot Picks for 2009. The West Madison Agricultural Research Station is located at 8502 Mineral Point Road, in Verona.
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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