Great Lakes

What do all these insects have in common? They were all brought to North America from Asia or Europe. These exotic insects have caused havoc in our forests because the trees they attack have developed little resistance to them. Our forests are filled with native insects that attack and sometimes kill trees, but because these insects evolved along with their hosts, they don’t cause complete mortality that non-native species can.

Have you seen a box nailed to the side of a building, or on a post in a field, and wondered what it was for? Bats are friends from the forest. Little brown bats, big brown bats, and numerous other species flit about the evening sky, eating insects and playing a role in the forest ecosystem.

by Nia Becker, Clare Conservation District, Michigan

Forests at the Top of the Lake

A Combined Annual Meeting of the Michigan Forest Association & Michigan Tree Farm System

Newberry and Engadine Michigan, September 14‐15, 2018

Featuring a Women Owning Woodlands hike Friday, September 14 in the Newberry area

For full event information, click here!

 

LOCATION

The Women of WWOA was created to offer educational activities and a supportive atmosphere for women landowners to learn more about caring for their woodlands. The group gathers two to three times a year to spend a day learning from each other and natural resource professionals.

Buckthorn is the bane of many woodland owners. It turns out that buckthorn is starting to appear on the radar of soybean farmers as well (see post titled “What do buckthorn and soybean have in common?” for details).

 

Heard about 3D prints but not sure what all the hype is about?

The University of Minnesota Extension Forestry and Natural Resources team created invasive species 3D print models for early detection identification training. During the past decade of dedicated work on many different invasive species, both terrestrial and aquatic, educators adapted and improved program instruction and display materials, including 3D prints.

Location: Taste of India, 2570 Cleveland Ave., St. Paul (Roseville); 651-631-1222

Topics: MyMinnesotaWoods and UMN Master Woodland Owner Program: http://mwop.umn.edu/. The Master Woodland Owner program delivers a comprehensive training curriculum for private woodland owners interested in becoming better stewards of their woods. 

RSVP by October 16 to [email protected] 

About 10 years ago, Indian Heights Park overrun with invasive plants while mountain bike tires were eroding the hillsides, park neighbors and Audubon members became concerned.  Many neighbors and community members enjoyed the park, but none of us really understood how valuable the land was to our history, culture and wildlife.  In 2010, we gathered the stakeholders together to share that this was (and is) an important site for Dakota people and that the city’s remnant oak savanna remains one of the most endangered ecosystem in Minnesota.

 



Flickr photo by F.D. Richards

With summer on the horizon and the gardening stores and farmers markets full of beautiful plants it can be hard to resist the urge to try something new in your landscape. Please proceed with caution!