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Planting tip: When planting balled and burlapped trees, place short pieces of plastic pipe or electrical conduit around the edge of the root ball before backfilling the planting hole. Allow them to stick up about three to four inches from the ground and use them for deep watering of the new trees. They also serve as a visible guard for the trunk against lawn mowers. If you are watering with a hose, the water in these pipes helps the trees roots to grow down to the water level, which may eliminate the drying of roots that grow near the surface to take advantage of the water in the mulch ring. You can get these short pieces of one inch diameter pipe from plumbers and electricians. Use at least three or preferably four per tree. Water weekly after planting and make sure the tree gets the equivalent of one inch of water a week, more during extended dry spells. For more information, please visit the Project Canopy website at www.projectcanopy.org or contact Becky Tavani, Project Canopy Director, at (207)287-4987 or becky.tavani@maine.gov.
In late-June, the Senate Interior Appropriation Subcommittee recommended a FY08 budget of $30,846,000 for urban and community forestry programs, a $13,410,000 increase above the President’s budget request and $1,000,000 above the fiscal year 2007 level. The committee expects the USDA Forest Service to focus funding allocations on efforts in large urban areas and on various efforts to enhance green infrastructure, including strategic selection of several projects of national and regional significance. Earlier in the month, a House Subcommittee recommended $31,130,000 in UCF funding. A conference committee will meet between now and August recess to find common ground before sending the bill to the President, who has threatened a veto.
The Maine Department of Agriculture and the Maine Forest Service are working to update the state’s Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) Quarantine. The rule was last amended in 2001. HWA was detected in Maine forests in 2003 and has since been found in the six southernmost towns in York County. To reflect these detections, six Maine towns (Eliot, Kittery, Ogunquit, South Berwick, Wells and York) will be added to the area under quarantine. Additionally, several counties in other states with HWA detections since the original rule-making will be included in the quarantined area. To see a list of counties in the eastern United States with HWA detections visit the USDA Forest Service website: www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/hwa/infestations.shtm or request a paper copy from Allison Kanoti at (207) 287-3147.
A public hearing is scheduled for July 9, 2007 at 3 PM at the York County Cooperative Extension Office, 21 Bradeen Street in Springvale. If you are unable to attend the public hearing, written comments will be accepted until 4 PM on July 23, 2007. To access the proposed rule on line go to www.maine.gov/agriculture/pi/ and click on Featured Topics. If you would like a paper copy of the rule, to send comments or you have questions regarding this proposal please contact Ann Gibbs with the Maine Department of Agriculture at (207)287-3891 or ann.gibbs@maine.gov. For more information on Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, visit: www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/pest_al/hemlock/hwa05.htm.
The Maine Forest Service, in partnership with numerous state and federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations, is surveying approximately 1,000 culverts at road-stream crossings in the lower Penobscot River watershed during the summer of 2007. Dams and road crossings often keep fish from reaching upstream habitat and affect stream health. This project is part of a larger statewide effort to inventory barriers to diadromous fish such as Atlantic salmon and alewives, and native freshwater fish such as brook trout.
To collect survey data, crew members generally remain in the immediate vicinity of the crossing. Crews record the dimensions of the culvert to determine if it is undersized, and make assessments of factors such as water depth, velocity and substrate in the culvert compared with those in the natural stream channel. Collecting this information on road crossings will help towns and state agencies most effectively prioritize and replace structures to improve fish passage. Priorities set in this way also can be helpful to direct private, state or federal funding to replace crossings so that they meet current standards for effective fish passage. For more information, contact Chris Martin at (207)287-1073 or chris.martin@maine.gov.
The Lewiston-Auburn Community Forest Board and Project Canopy seek to host a one-day Tree Board Summit in September. The summit’s goal is to gather a number of tree boards from around the state to provide a venue to share best practices, highlight success stories, share experiences with other boards as well as learn more about storm preparation and planning. If you are interested in attending this event to strengthen your community forestry board and share ideas with others who have similar public greening goals throughout the state, please contact Dave Griswold at (207)897-1315 or Becky Tavani at (207)287-4987 for more details.
The Center for Watershed Protection (CWP), in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, has produced a three-part manual series on using trees to protect and restore urban watersheds. The contents of the manual are the result of extensive research as well as design workshops on using trees for storm water treatment and planting trees in the urban landscape. These workshops were attended by more than 40 local, regional and national experts, including foresters, storm water engineers, landscape architects, arborists, urban soil scientists, watershed planners and representatives from parks, transportation and utility companies. Part three, just released, provides detailed guidance on urban tree planting that is applicable at both the development site and the watershed scale. Topics covered include: species selection, site preparation, tree planting and maintenance techniques, and special considerations for urban tree planting. Access it here: www.na.fs.fed.us/watershed/publications.shtm.
The Urban Forestry Index (UFind) is a database of current and historic urban forestry and arboriculture publications and other media that can be searched by topic, author, title, description, or keyword. The Urban Forestry Index provides a comprehensive place to search for informational resources that have been produced by a wide variety of organizations—in all types of formats. The goal is to increase awareness of urban forestry publications and other media, increase access to these materials, and prevent duplication of products that have already been developed. Visit: http://www.urbanforestryindex.com/.
Alliance for Community Trees (ACT) has launched a Brown Bag Lunch Series via a webcast held at the lunch hour on the third Thursday of each month. Webcasting is a conferencing tool that allows one to guide a remote audience through an electronic presentation, such as PowerPoint, in real time. Audience members simply login to the given URL and dial-in to the given conference call. The overall goal is to create informal training opportunities for local urban and community forestry practitioners. The trainings leverage local successes by amplifying to a larger audience the model organizations' methods, materials, and approaches. The series is geared to mainly serve the needs of volunteer organizations and community groups. Audience members need only internet access and a telephone to participate. Visit: http://actrees.org/site/stories/act_launches_monthly_webcast_series.php.
9 Public Hearing Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Quarantine – proposed rule changes. York County Cooperative Extension. Contact Ann Gibbs at (207)287-3891 or ann.gibbs@maine.gov.
10 Arborist Climbing and Rigging Seminar. Bicentennial Nature Park, Rt 3, Augusta. FMI or to register contact Tom Hoerth at 443-8347.
18 MNLA & MFGA Annual Summer Meeting, Tower Hill Botanical Garden
Keynote: Dr. Bonnie Appleton - Bare Root Trees. For more info visit www.mnla.com.
19-21 New York ReLeaf State Conference. Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. Contact Betty Shimo at (315)826-5743 for more info.
21 Wildlife in the Woods Walk. Allen-Whitney Memorial Forest, Manchester, ME. 10am-noon. Visit www.newenglandforestry.org for more details.
24 “Moon, Tune, Croon” hosted by UMaine Cooperative Extension featuring music and readings in celebration of the July full moon. Rogers Farm in Stillwater, 6pm. Call 1-800-287-1485 for more info.
28-August 1 ISA 2007 Annual Conference and Trade Show. Sheraton Waikiki Hotel and Conference Center, Honolulu, HI. FMI or to register visit ISA’s website at www.isa-arbor.com.
21 “Something Old, Something New” hosted by UMaine Cooperative Extension featuring discussion on new and unusual plants along with some old favorites. Rogers Farm in Stillwater, 6pm. Call 1-800-287-1485 for more info.
25 Achieving a Vision for your Woodlot, Forest Working Group. Steve Hobart Lot, Blanchard. Contact Tessa Burpee at tessa@heartofmaine.org.
26 Mushroom Walk, Ducktrap Preserve. 2-5pm. Contact Kim Vogel at ducktrap1@tidewater.net.
13 Tree Identification Workshop with MFS Forester Morten Moesswilde, hosted by Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition, Belfast Library 6.30pm. Contact Skip Pendleton at (207)338-4427 or Cloe Chunn (207)338-1147 for more info.
15 Tree Identification walk with MFS Forester Morten Moesswilde, hosted by Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition, Newman Preserve, Northport. Contact Skip Pendleton at (207)338-4427 or Cloe Chunn (207)338-1147 for more info.
22 Creating a Vision for your Backyard Woods. Mather Auditorium Wells Reserve. Contact Zack Steele at the Wells Reserve at (207)646-1555x157 or zsteele@wellsnerr.org.
If you would like to put your community’s activity on the calendar, please let one of the editors know by the 15th of each month.
This newsletter is made possible by a grant from the USDA Forest Service. The USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. To file a complaint call (202) 720-5964.