In the News - 2008
December
2008
New Publication
12/30/2008
The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI)
has released a detailed review of aspen in the Lake States.
The authors are FR researchers Grant Domke, Alan
Ek, Michael
Kilgore and Andrew
David. Published as NCASI
Technical Bulletin No. 0955, the study is available from
the NCASI website and via the Interagency Information Cooperative
at iic.gis.umn.edu. The
report summarizes the status and trends of aspen in the Lake
States, including its economic and environmental contributions,
and characterizes current research on management, productivity,
and environmental considerations. It also suggests strategies
to help meet government and industry needs for information
and technology transfer and identifies major research gaps.
Students deliver
report to Maplewood
12/17/2008 6:20 PM
CFANS students have delivered the results
of 15 weeks of work to Maplewood residents interested in making
their St. Paul suburb more sustainable. The students are enrolled
in the Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management senior
capstone course.
Read
more
Outdoor Heritage Council meets,
picks leader
Doug Smith, Star Tribune
12/01/2008
Michael Kilgore,
a University of Minnesota professor, was chosen as the interim
chairman. The 12 members talked about how they'll work.
Read
more
November
2008
News Release:
Four Named to Outdoor Heritage Council by State Senate
11/26/2008
Eric E. Steen
Media Relations Specialist - Senate Majority Research
Council will recommend how constitutionally
dedicated funds will be spent.
Minnesota State Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL
– Minneapolis, today announced the appointments of Lester
Bensch, Michael
Kilgore, Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL – St. Paul, and
Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, GOP – Alexandria, to the Lessard
Outdoor Heritage Council. The twelve member council will recommend
how to use the newly created Outdoor Heritage Fund, a constitutionally
dedicated revenue source to be used to benefit Minnesota's
outdoors. The council will meet for the first time on December
1, and will provide guidance and recommendations to the Legislature.
* Lester Bensch spent 25 years in the computer industry in
the metro area prior to moving to Ashby, Minnesota. There
he started the Viking Valley Hunt Club, which he owns and
operates. Mr. Bensch has been active in conservation and preservation
through his own business, but also through his involvement
in a number of organizations, such as Ducks
Unlimited, Pheasants Forever and the Minnesota Deer Hunters
Association. He is also the Chairman of the Ottertail County
Sportsman Association. He serves on the Chancellor's Advisory
Council for the University of Minnesota-Morris. Mr. Bensch
worked with sportsman throughout the state to ensure the passage
of the amendment. As an appointee to the council, Mr. Bensch
plans to use the Statewide Conservation and Protection Plan
commissioned by the LCCMR as a framework for the council's
discussion and planning. He also hopes to focus on
accountability.
* Dr. Michael Kilgore, of Lino Lakes, is an Associate Professor
of Natural Resource Economics and Policy at the University
of Minnesota's Department of Forest Resources. He also serves
as
the Director of the Center for Environment and Natural Resource
Policy at the University. Mr. Kilgore is a member of the Blandin
Foundation's Vital Forests/Vital Communities Advisory
Board and the Economics Editor for the Journal of Forestry.
He currently chairs the board of the Minnesota Master Logger
Certification Program. In 2006, Mr. Kilgore was appointed
by
the Governor to chair the Conservation Legacy Council. Mr.
Kilgore is a well respected voice on forest management and
brings an academic perspective to the council.
* Sen. Ellen Anderson was first elected to the Minnesota Senate
in 1994, where she distinguished herself as one of the Senate's
leading environmental voices - she continues that tradition
today as an advocate for renewable energy and conservation
measures. She chairs the Senate Environment, Energy and Natural
Resources Committee, and serves on the Senate
Environment and Natural Resources Policy committee. Currently,
Ellen teaches at Metropolitan State University. In her free
time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two
children, traveling and gardening.
* Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, GOP – Alexandria, was elected
in 2006. He graduated from Hallock High School, obtained an
A.A. in Law Enforcement, and was the Douglas County Sheriff
prior to his election to the state Senate. He serves on the
Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, and his
special legislative interests include environment and natural
resources, agriculture, rural economic development, and public
safety. Ingebrigtsen currently lives in Alexandria, with his
wife Marilyn, and has 2 children.
"The citizen's council is the key element to involve
the public in helping to make the decisions that will preserve
our lakes, lands, and forests so our children can enjoy them,
just as we have," said Majority Leader Pogemiller. "These
members will provide informed opinions on the worth and overall
impact of prospective projects to the legislature. Their input
will be invaluable to legislators as we make these funding
decisions."
In addition to the members named to the council, Sen. Majority
Leader Pogemiller has designated two Senators as outreach
ambassadors to communities with interest: Sen. Satveer Chaudhary,
DFL – Fridley, for hunting and fishing, and Sen. Tom
Saxhaug, DFL – Grand Rapids, for forestry.
"These senators will provide a listening board for those
various communities and bring their voices to the legislature,"
said Sen. Pogemiller. The Outdoor Heritage Fund and Council
were created by the passage of the "The Clean Water,
Land and Legacy Amendment" in November. The council is
named in honor of former state Senator Bob Lessard, who championed
the issue during his time at the legislature and after he
left in 2002. The council will examine projects throughout
the state and provide its recommendations to the legislature
by April 1, 2009.
Ear-blasting
start promises quiet energy payoff
Star
Tribune
By DAVID PETERSON
11/15/2008
It won't be a tornado when a new Shakopee plant lets loose
-- just a loud signal of an innovative way of generating power....
Dean Current (Forest Resources) discusses a Shakopee plant that will burn
grasses harvested from marginal lands.
Read
more
University Study
Explores Landowner Attitudes Toward Off Highway Vehicle Access
on Private Property
Northland Press
11/10/2008
When groups of landowners met last year, they discussed their
ideas about off-highway vehicle (OHV) use—benefits,
negative impacts, and how OHV use can be managed.
The discussions were part of a two-year study conducted by
the University of Minnesota to explore perceptions of OHV
use among private landowners of seasonal and forested lands
in Central Minnesota. Four separate focus groups discussed
these issues, and the discussion became part of a more extensive
survey that was mailed to a random sample of more than 1,500
landowners of seasonal recreation and private forest lands
within an 8-county area in Central Minnesota.
The survey and analysis focused on how these factors-- land
use types, benefits of OHV use, negative impacts from OHV
use, and management actions -- influence landowner willingness
to allow OHV access on their properties, whether by family
and friends or the general public.
Results from the focus groups and surveys indicate that landowners
recognize the value of OHVs use for hunting, work, and recreational
riding. The challenge is managing for the negative impacts
such as soil erosion on steep slopes, wetland damage, disturbing
wildlife, and damage to driveways. County and state land managers
are challenged in providing adequate places to safely ride
without interfering with non-motorized activities and from
causing excessive environmental damage.
“OHV use continues to be a major issue in the Central
Region,” said Linda Ulland, executive director of the
University’s Central Region Sustainable Development
Partnership. “This study offers insight into landowners
response to OHV use on their properties and potential situations
in which landowners might be willing to grant access to OHVs.”
“The findings are important for designation of state
and local trails and for officials responsible for road maintenance
and repair, enforcement, and natural resource management,”
said Dennis Becker,
PhD, principal investigator in the University’s Department
of Forest Resources.
The study was sponsored by the University of Minnesota Central
Region Sustainable Development Partnership. It is available
on the web at http://www.forestry.umn.edu/publications/staffpapers/Staffpaper
197.pdf.
Why natural selection
favors only some species?
Report by EurekAlert
The Hindu
11/05/2008
According to a UC Riverside-led research team, the answer
lies in the rate of metabolism of a species how fast a species
consumes energy, per unit mass, per unit time.
The researchers studied 3006 species, the largest number of
species ever analyzed in a single study. The species list
encompasses much of the range of biological diversity on Earth
– from bacteria to elephants, and algae to sapling trees.
To the researchers' surprise, they found the mean metabolic
rate of the species at rest fell on a narrow range of values
0.3 to 9 Watts per kilogram.
"This narrow range is in dramatic contrast to the 20
orders of magnitude difference in the body mass of the species
we studied," said Bai-Lian Li, a professor of ecology
at UC Riverside, who led the study along with two colleagues.
"At physiological rest, the biosphere appears to run,
on average, predominantly at the optimal rate defined by this
narrow range of values. This remarkable phenomenon is likely
associated with the pervasive biochemical universality of
living matter, and could provide us with clues to understanding
how life is organized."
Study results appear in the Nov. 4 issue of the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
According to Li, the metabolic optimum explains the ubiquitous
and seemingly unrelated features of life organization we see
all around us complex adaptations such as animal breathing
and flat, green leaves.
"Organisms whose designs fit the physiological window
have been favored by natural selection across all of life's
major kingdoms," he said. "This observed, narrow
range might therefore be considered as the preferred, optimal
range for the functioning of living matter as a whole."
Unlike the genetic code and protein composition, metabolic
rate cannot be inherited from a common ancestor. Rather, a
particular range of metabolic rates is maintained by natural
selection.
"Species had to invent diverse tricks to remain near
the metabolic optimum, from which the progressive evolutionary
increase in body size from prokaryotes to largest vertebrates
and plants was continually taking them away," Li said.
He was joined in the study by co-leaders Anastassia M. Makarieva
and Victor G. Gorshkov of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
St. Petersburg. Their co-authors on the research paper are
Steven L. Chown of Stellenbosch University, South Africa; Peter B. Reich of the University of Minnesota, St. Paul; and Valery M. Gavrilov
of Moscow State University, Russia.
October
2008
Optimum speed
of life
10/21/2008
According to a new study co-authored by Peter
Reich, Regents Professor and F. B. Hubachek, Sr. Chair
in forest ecology, in the Department of Forest Resources,
all living things at-rest use similar amounts of energy. From
bacteria to elephants and algae to sapling trees, the study
shows that, pound for pound, most groups of organisms favor
the same optimum metabolic rate. The study, titled: "Mean
mass-specific metabolic rates are strikingly similar across
life's major domains: Evidence for life's metabolic optimum."
appeared recently in the Early Edition online section of the PNAS, and will be published
in an upcoming issue. Read the Wired and New
Scientist articles.
Natural Resources 2 + 2 Agreement
Signed
NEWS RELEASE
October 6, 2008
Itasca
Community College and the University of Minnesota have
developed a transfer articulation agreement that enables Natural
Resources students at Itasca to transfer to the University's Forest Resources or Recreation
Resources Management degree programs in the College of
Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences on the St.
Paul campus.
The Forest
Resources curriculum prepares students to plan, implement
and research the management, protection and sustainable use
of forest and related resources that include timber, wildlife,
water, recreation and aesthetic resources. The Recreation
Resources Management curriculum prepares students for
careers in managing recreational lands and water and natural
resource based tourism.
“This is a true example of collaboration between higher
education systems in Minnesota," stated Dr. Mike Johnson,
ICC provost. "The articulation agreement will enhance
efforts toward a seamless transition for ICC students to the
University of Minnesota."
Dr. Alan Ek,
head of the University's Department of Forest Resources, noted
increasing linkages between the Natural Resources programs
at Itasca and the University, citing in particular the close
relationship and proximity of the Itasca campus to professional
resources at the University of Minnesota North
Central Research and Outreach Center in Grand Rapids.
According to Ek, “This expansion of program linkages
is crucial to meeting the strong demand by employers for forestry
and related natural resource professionals.”
Read
more…
Lawrence Campbell
Merriam, Professor Emeritus,
Department of Forest Resources
Aug. 31, 1923 — Oct. 5, 2008
Lawrence Campbell Merriam Jr. was born Aug. 31, 1923, in
Portland. The family moved to Berkeley, Calif., in 1926, when
Lawrence Sr. joined the National Park Service. When his father
became superintendent of Yosemite National Park, Lawrence
went to Mariposa High School, a 60-mile bus ride from the
park. He graduated in 1941. Lawrence studied at U. C. Berkeley
and at the University of Nebraska, and was a member of Phi
Delta Theta fraternity. He joined the Navy during World War
II and earned a commission as ensign from Columbia University
in New York. He served in the Pacific Theater and was honorably
discharged in 1946 as Lieutenant jg.
He married Katherine Wagner of Los Angeles in September 1947,
and returned to Berkeley to complete his Bachelors of Science
in forestry. He then had 10 years of practical forestry experience
with Long Bell Lumber Company, California; the Bureau of Land
Management in Medford, Oregon; and Willamette National Lumber
Company in Sweet Home. He appraised timber for the construction
of Interstate 5, wrote park history, and did park planning
and development with the Oregon State Parks system and Highway
Department. During this time, he returned to academics at
Oregon State University, earning a master’s degree in
forestry in 1958 and a doctorate in forest management in 1963.
He taught forestry at the University of Montana, Missoula,
for seven years, and then became professor of forest recreation
at the University of Minnesota from 1966 to 1986. During his
University career, he gave consistent leadership and enthusiasm
for education and research in forest recreation. While in
this service, he provided leadership in establishing the Recreation
Resources Management curriculum, the campus-wide Resource
and Community Development Program, and the Urban Forestry
curriculum. More than for this leadership, however, his students
appreciated and remember him as a consistently challenging
teacher and a faculty member who was genuinely concerned about
students and their opportunities.
To his faculty colleagues, Larry was a consistent source
of leadership and wisdom mixed with humor. He was a recognized
spokesman for recreational use in land management and policy
at state and national levels. He coauthored two editions of
the leading text in his field “Recreational Use of Wildlands.”
Further, he developed and regularly taught courses on the
management of recreational lands, forest recreation planning,
and recreation land policy. Especially significant were his
efforts to bring a strong historical perspective to both faculty
colleagues and students. He exhibited an untiring commitment
to the welfare of students and their education. In doing so,
he set an outstanding example for all.
Lawrence also wrote a number of magazine and professional
journal articles and one book entitled “Oregon’s
Highway Park System, 1921-1989, an Administrative History.”
In 1968, he conducted a national park feasibility study in
Paraguay for the United Nations. He and his wife Katherine
traveled extensively, including to many Elderhostels.
Lawrence and Katherine’s oldest son, Ken, was born with
Down syndrome in 1950, and they founded the Oregon Association
for Retarded Citizens (ARC of Oregon) in 1954. Lawrence was
also on the board of the National Parks and Conservation Association
in Washington, D.C., and involved with many conservation organizations
throughout his lifetime.
In 1986, Lawrence and Katherine retired to Corvallis and
have been very active in community affairs. He was an early
promoter of Greenbelt Land Trust, worked at the Benton County
Historical Museum (and Horner Museum), helped with book sales
for the library, contributed to the College of Forestry at
Oregon State University and was on the board for Marys River
Watershed Council and Benton County Parks Department. He was
an avid stamp collector and active member of the First Congregational
United Church of Christ.
His children are Kenneth, Howard and Laura and her husband,
Peter Armstrong, of the Twin Cities; Susan and her husband,
David Graves, of Lafayette, Calif.; and Bill and his wife,
Cheryl, of West Linn. His grandchildren are Carolyn Merriam
Jenkins, Pierce and Matisse Merriam, Meredith and Grant Armstrong,
all of the Twin Cities, Steven, Robert and Margaret Graves
of Lafayette, Calif., and Kyle and Leah Merriam of West Linn.
He has one brother, John Edwin Merriam, and his wife, CC Ramsey,
of Washington, D.C., and several nieces and nephews.
A service will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, at the First
Congregational United Church of Christ in Corvallis. In lieu
of flowers, contributions can be made to Greenbelt Land Trust,
Box 1721, Corvallis, OR 97339, Benton County Historical Museum,
1101 Main St., Philomath, OR 97370-0035, First Congregational
Church, 4515 S.W. West Hills Road, Corvallis, OR 97333, or
Oregon Association for Retarded Citizens, 1745 State St.,
Salem, OR 97301. Cards may be sent to Mrs. Katherine Merriam,
c/o Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota,
1530 Cleveland Avenue North, St. Paul, MN 55108.
About face
U's tourism director tracks the changing
faces of outdoor recreation.
Sara Specht
10/09/2008
It must be the video games, or just a crazy, busy schedule.
Whatever the reason, something is keeping more people, and
generally younger people, inside and away from Minnesota parks
and outdoor recreation. In recent years, state and national
parks have drawn fewer visitors, and the state has issued
fewer fishing and hunting licenses. Most outdoor recreational
activities in Minnesota have seen decreasing participation.
Following these trends is Ingrid
Schneider, director of the University of Minnesota
Tourism Center and professor in the Department
of Forest Resources, who works with researchers and communities
to figure out why times are changing and, hopefully, how to
change with them.
Read
more
University
of Minnesota alum Ingrid Schneider, who also heads up the
U's Tourism Center, is looking at why Minnesotans are participating
less in outdoor recreational activities.
Photo courtesy of CFANS
Pelkki Named AFA
Communicator of the Year
10/2/2008
Office of Media Services
University of Arkansas at Monticello
MONTICELLO, AR — The Arkansas Forestry
Association has named Dr. Matt Pelkki, professor
of forestry at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, as
its 2008 Communicator of the Year.
The award will be presented at the AFA annual
meeting in Fort Smith on October 8.
A member of the UAM faculty since 2001, Pelkki
is the George H. Clippert Endowed Chair of the UAM forestry
program. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University
of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment
and a master's and Ph.D. from the University
of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource
Sciences.
September
2008
Emerald Ash Borer
threatens Minnesota trees
09/29/2008
Heather Sahr
The Emerald Ash Borer, a nasty pest that infects
ash trees has already been detected in Michigan, Wisconsin
and Canada, and experts fear that Minnesota’s ash trees
could be next. . . .
The EAB affects all three types of ash in Minnesota,
green, black and white. Infestation could affect all 867 million
ash trees in the state.
One of the difficulties with the EAB is that
its presence is nearly undetectable for a few years, Andy David, associate professor in the forest resources
department at the North Central Research and Outreach Center,
said.
“They live under bark, and in the crown
of the tree; people don’t get up to see those spots
very often,” David said. “Unfortunately the results
are not seen until nearly four to six years after it’s
been around.”
The fall season is the ideal time to collect
seeds. David said he spent his entire weekend collecting seeds
in the northernmost part of the state.
Read
more
Dorothy Anderson
Leaving FR Department
09/25/2008
Professor Dorothy
Anderson has been at the University of Minnesota campus
since she was 20 years old; whether as a student, working,
or as faculty. After 18 years as faculty for Forest Resources,
Anderson is leaving the department. In October, she will assume
the position of Department Head of Parks, Recreation and Tourism 
Management in the College of Natural Resources at
North Carolina State University.
While she will miss the interactions with undergraduate
students, Anderson is excited to apply her skills and
knowledge to a new challenge. "The opportunity to be
a department head is like getting that opportunity
to play on a different stage,” she said. "You get
that
opportunity to bring all this experience you’ve had
and
see what else you can do with it.”
August 2008
Short Rotation
Crops Conference
The UMN is co-sponsor of an upcoming International Energy
Agency conference on Short Rotation Crops that will be held
in Bloomington from August 18 to 22, 2008. It will feature
current research on the production and environmental impacts
of both herbaceous and woody biomass crops for energy. The
conference will highlight opportunities but also important
research issues related to energy crop production. There will
be a pre-conference tour to Iowa including a visit to the
Bear Creek riparian buffer demonstration area which has received
national attention and a post conference tour to the Alexandria
which will highlight work on short rotation woody crops for
energy. The pre and post conference tours are open to the
public.
More info
June
2008
New digs at Cedar Creek
The U's Cedar Creek facility gets new name, new labs
By Deane Morrison
June 9, 2008
On June 5 the U's College of Biological Sciences (CBS) used
World Environment Day to rename the field station where Lindeman
worked and to dedicate a new building in his honor. Located
an hour north of the Twin Cities in East Bethel, the Cedar
Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CCESR)--formerly the Cedar
Creek Natural History Area--now boasts the Raymond Lindeman
Research and Discovery Center.
 Regents
Professor Peter
Reich is a leader in studying the effects of
rising carbon dioxide levels on ecosystems. Reich is well
known, among other things, for his studies of how rising carbon
dioxide levels will affect plant growth, a process that stores
carbon and works against greenhouse warming.
April
2008
Megan Bowdish
Wins Xi Sigma Pi Regional Scholarship
04/24/2008
Megan Bowdish is the 2008 winner of the Lake
States Xi Sigma Pi Regional Scholarship. As the recipient
of this year's scholarship, Megan will receive a check for
$1,000 from the Xi Sigma Pi national office. Megan has been
a tireless leader for the Xi Sigma Pi, Delta Chapter (the
University of Minnesota's chapter) over the past year. As
the Chapter's forester (i.e., student leader) for the 2007-2008
academic year, Megan made great strides in reinvigorating
student interest in the Society. A few weeks ago, the University's
Xi Sigma Pi Delta Chapter initiated 13 new members. These
students share Megan’s excitement and enthusiasm for
Xi Sigma Pi and its potential to be an active student organization
at the University of Minnesota. Much of the success in new
member recruitment to and interest in the Society can be attributed
to Megan’s hard work and dedication! In addition to
being active in Xi Sigma Pi, Megan has held positions in the
University’s Forestry Club and Minnesota student chapter
of the Society of American
Foresters. Congratulations Megan!
Xi Sigma Pi is the forestry honor society, founded 100 years
ago in Washington state. The University of Minnesota's Delta
Chapter was one of the first Xi Sigma Pi chapters established.
The objectives of the Society are to secure and maintain a
high standard of scholarship in forest resources management
education, work for the improvement of the forest resources
management profession, and promote a fraternal spirit among
those engaged in activities related to the forest resources.
Minnesota Student
Chapter of the Society of American Foresters wins award
The University of Minnesota Student Chapter of the
Society of American Foresters won the 1st Annual
Lake States Quiz Bowl and Forestry Games held by the University
of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in Tomahawk, WI, on 04/06/2008.
Congratulations to our student teams and thanks to Club Advisor,
Assistant Professor Tony
D'Amato, for his advice and encouragement. The
top team members were: Liza McCarthy, Troy Holcomb, Emma Schultz,
and Mike Dyste. They were well supported by the Team 2 crew
of Megan Bowdish, Zach Mylinski, Tiffany Triggs, and Erin
Baumgart.
Sustainable tourism
conference
Want to learn how to conduct an energy audit, create a green
roof, and make your community event environmentally friendly?
Then attend "Stepping Up to Sustainability," the
U's third Conference on Sustainable Tourism, from 8:30 a.m.
to 4 p.m., Tuesday, April 15, at the Duluth Entertainment
Convention Center. The keynote speaker is Joel Makower, a
specialist in green business practices and cofounder of Greener
World Media Inc. Registration is $95 ($35 for students). To
learn more and to register, see the U's
Tourism Center.
March
2008
Morse-Alumni Award
03/12/2008
Congratulations to Kristen
Nelson, forest resources, recipient of the Horace
T. Morse-University of Minnesota Alumni Association Award
for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education. Award ceremony will be April 28, 2008, McNamara
Alumni Center, UMTC.
Governor Pawlenty
makes appointments to the Minnesota Forest Resources Council
03/10/2008
Saint Paul – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the
appointment of Alan
Ek, Bruce Cox, and others as members of the Minnesota
Forest Resources Council.
Bruce Cox, of Bagley, is the Clearwater
County Land Commissioner. He is vice chair of the Minnesota
Association of County Land Commissioners. He is a Forest Resources
alum, class of '95. Bruce is reappointed to the council position
for a county land commissioner.
Alan Ek a professor and head of the Department
of Forest Resources. He received his bachelors and masters
degrees in forestry from the University of Minnesota, and
a doctorate degree from Oregon State University. Alan is appointed
to the research/higher education position on the council and
replaces Bob Stine.
The Minnesota Forest Resources Council
develops recommendations to the Governor and to federal, state,
county and local governments with respect to forest resource
policies and practices that result in the sustainable management,
use, and protection of the state's forest resources. The council
consists of 17 members appointed by the Governor.
Churches going
“green’ for Palm Sunday
03/07/2008
Dean
Current, director of the Center
for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management discusses use of eco-palms.
USA Today
Read
more
Cankers on cherry
trees may be black knot fungus
03/01/2008
If you have cherry or plum trees, now’s a good time
to check for a disease called black knot fungus. The fungus
can go unnoticed with summer foliage but is apparent when
trees are winter-bare. Also known as cherry knot fungus, the
disease causes black tumor-like growths to form along branches.
It attacks trees in the prunus family, namely cherry and plum
trees. Pin cherry, amur chokecherry, ‘Princess Kay’
Canada plum and American plums are particularly vulnerable,
experts say “This disease is common in Minnesota; it’s
everywhere in the state,” said Gary
Johnson, University of Minnesota extension professor
of urban and community forestry. “It’s not like
Dutch elm disease that swoops in and kills. ....
Duluth News Tribune
Read
more
February
2008
Increasing state
deer herd
02/25/2008
..."There is no new growth of red oak in far Southeastern
Minnesota or in the 'Big Woods' area in the west Twin Cities
metro," said University of Minnesota forest ecologist Lee Frelich,
adding that regeneration of red oak, white pine, white cedar,
hemlock and yellow birch is stunted or worse across North
Central Minnesota and along the North Shore. A wide variety
of forest plants — to say nothing of urban-area ornamental
shrubs and hostas — are being gobbled up.
MinnPost
Read
more
Cultivating culture
Scientists learn how to learn from native populations
02/22/2008
...Training the next generation
Kristen
Nelson has been studying the ways in which communities
interact with scientists for most of her career. The associate
professor in the Department of Forest Resources and Department
of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology recently
finished a handbook for scientists and regulators working
on environmental risk assessment in multiple countries.
"Science is embedded in
societies," she says. "You cannot just transplant
what works in one country into another. What works in Iowa
doesn't necessarily work in Chiapas."
UMNews
Read
more
January
2008
Cold enough for
ya? Not cold enough to kill tree pests
01/22/2008
We all survived the first subzero cold snap
of the season by bundling up or staying inside. ..."The
colder it gets and the longer the cold lasts, the fewer of
those survice, and then fewer of them will be around to transmit
the disease from one elm tree to another," said Lee
Frelich, a research associate and director of the
University of Minnesota's Center for Hardwood Ecology.
Minnesota Monitor
Read
more
Ely forum highlights
threats from climate change
01/14/2008
A diverse array of government, union, and business leaders
described global climate change as both threat and opportunity
to a standing room only crowd at the Vermilion Community College
theater in Ely last Friday. ... Such changes could affect
Minnesota’s wood products industry as well, warned Lee
Frelich, a forest ecologist with the University of
Minnesota.
Timberjay News
Read
more
Prevent winter
damage to trees and shrubs
01/11/2008
Don’t automatically blame cold weather for killing your
plants over the winter. ... Gary Johnson is
an urban and community forestry professor with University
of Minnesota.
Hutchinson Leader
Read more
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