MSHS Center for Northern Gardening

1755 Prior Avenue, St. Paul, MN

Call to Order. MnSTAC President, Lorrie Stromme, called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m. on Thursday, May 15, 2003, at the Minnesota State Horticultural Society’s Center for Northern Gardening, 1755 Prior Avenue, St. Paul, MN.

Attendance:

Name	Affiliation
Bruce Bacon	City of Ramsey
Diane Ballentine	Tree Care Advisor
Emily Barbeau	U of MN Urban Forestry graduate
Robert Blanchette	U of MN, Plant Pathology
Kirk Brown	Tree Trust
Robert Condon	Tree Care Advisor
Dave DeVoto	Retired Forester, Mpls Park & Rec Board
Dave Hanson	U of MN, Forest Resources
Rich Hauer	MN Department of Agriculture
Jim Hermann	Mpls Park & Recreation Board, Forestry
Ken Holman	MN Department of Natural Resources
Gary R. Johnson	U of MN, Forest Resources
Barb Kirkpatrick	Tree Care Advisor
Kameron Kytonen	City of Annandale
Jill Mahon	US Forest Servcie, St. Paul
Michael Max	EnvironMentor Systems
Tom Schuster	City of New Hope
Glen Shirley	Retired Bloomington City Forester
Barb Spears	Community Forest Resource Center
Mark Stennes	Top Notch Tree Care
Lorrie Stromme	Tree Care Advisor
Paul Walvatne	MN Department of Transportation
Kathy Widin	Cities of Stillwater, Oak Park Heights

Minutes of Meeting of March 20, 2003. The members reviewed the Minutes of the membership meeting on March 20, 2003. Motion/Second: Michael Max/Kirk Brown. Motion Carried.

New Member. Motion/Second: Rich Hauer/Mark Stennes: to welcome Jill Mahon as a nw member to MnSTAC. Motion Carried.

Announcements and Agency Reports:

Lorrie Stromme distributed a list of meeting places and speakers for the balance of 2003.
Lorrie also reminded folks that the deadline for applying for MnSTAC’s scholarship to attend the Engineering Green national urban forest conference in San Antonio, TX, was June 2, 2003. Lorrie also shared a list of MnSTAC Committees and their respective chairs and encouraged folks to help MnSTAC advance its mission through committee involvement.
Paul Walvatne announced that the annual Minnesota Vegetation Management conference would take place on July 24-25, 2003, at the U of MN Morris campus.
Ken Holman showed a short videotape, called “Full Circle,” about the 1,000th Habitat for Humanity home that was built in Duluth, MN. The documentary showed how trees were harvested, turned into lumber and chipboard, and used in the construction of the new homes, whose owners contribute via sweat equity in constructing the house.
Rich Hauer announced that on Arbor Day, over 50,000 Norway Pine seedlings were distributed at 180 McDonald’s restaurant locations in Minnesota. Fifty-seven volunteers participated in this community outreach project.
Rich Hauer also reported that the Fall Conference sponsored by the Minnesota Society of Arboriculture (MSA) would take place on September 12, 2003. the Plant Health Committee had reconvened and discussed oak wilt suppression and new threats to plant health.
Ken Holman reported 97 pre-applications have been turned in for the next round of MnReleaf, requesting a total of $614,000 in funding. Ken announced that 2 Minnesota projects are finalists for NUCFAC grants: University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban Design and Tree Trust’s outreach to the SE Asian community. Ken also reported that, including the Farm Bill funds and MnReleaf, $1.7 million in grants will be available for urban forestry in the next two years.
Rich Hauer gave details about the ISA Tour des Trees ride this summer, in which two Minnesota cyclists are seeking sponsorship: Mike Reichenbach and Jim Zwack.

Getting Acquainted. Lorrie Stromme introduced Corrie Zoll of the Green Institute. Corrie shared information about Green Space Partners, the Twin City Greening Coalition, and other initiatives to collaborate on metro greening issues. He gave details about the Phillips Eco Environmental Center, which has a green roof, was built with green materials, and uses ½ the energy of the average office building.

Featured Presentation: Eastern White Pines for Urban Areas, Robert Blanchette, Ph.D, University of Minnesota, Department of Plant Pathology.

Dr. Blanchette began his presentation with an assertion that white pines are underutilized as landscape plants, because people are afraid to plant them. He then gave a brief background about the history of the white pine in Minnesota and its decline since 1837, as a result of intensive logging, clear-cutting, indiscriminate cutting, and more recently, white pine blister rust.

The eastern strain of white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) was introduced in New York in 1906 via infected nursery stock from Germany. [The disease was first identified in 1856 in Russia and spread to Germany. From 1880 to early 1900, Germany grew American-source seedlings in their nurseries and sent them back to the U.S. as nursery stock.] Dr. Blanchette reviewed the life cycle of the fungus and its stages, symptoms, and control measures. The key is environmental conditions: 2 weeks of cool temperatures (for teliospores to be produced) and 48 hours of a saturated condition (basidiospores live for only 30 hours and travel only 900 to 1,000 feet). Northeast Minnesota is a high hazard area.

Dr. Blanchette presented the research of Robert Patton, University of Wisconsin, who looked for white pines that appeared to be resistant to white pine blister rust. He collected seeds from these trees and planted them. Many years later, Robert Patton’s trees have proven to be the most resistant. The needles of resistant white pines are more waxy, preventing the fungus’ entry through stomata in the needles. Dr. Blanchette is continuing Patton’s research; he is doing crosses of two of the most resistant types. He is working toward multiple clones and genotypes before the resistant pines are released for sale. Dr. Blanchette responded to questions about control, Ribes eradication, and the comparative resistance of other 5-needled pines.

Adjournment. Motion to Adjourn/Second: Mark Stennes/Michael Max. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m..