Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee

Monthly Meeting Minutes

Minnesota Department of Agriculture

90 West Plato Blvd., St. Paul, MN

September 16th, 2004, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

 

 

ATTENDANCE:

To be added

 

Call to Order:

Meeting called to order by President Simons at 9:40 a.m., although a quorum was not present. At 9:50 a.m., a quorum was satisfied, and there was a call for approval of the minutes by President Simons.  Mike Max made the motion to approve the minutes as written, Glen Hambleton seconded the motion.  Minutes approved unanimously. 

 

Agency Updates:

MnDOT 

Paul Walvatne cautioned against complacency regarding DED.  There are many reasons for the increase in infections.  We (all agencies, communities, professionals) need to pursue it more aggressively.  MnDOT maintenance employees have received training and are marking volunteer elms along freeways and noise walls.  For example, between Hwy 280 and the capitol, >300 trees have been marked…many of them small trees.  Also, they are working hard to control the propagation of fence line elms.  Paul has put together a list of communities with DED programs in the metro area. Another MnDOT concern regards roadside wildlife issues.  MnDOT is altering their mowing procedures to improve or modify roadside wildlife.

 

U of MN

Expressed thanks to the MNSTAC group for attending the field session in August at the TRE nursery on the St. Paul campus (Teaching/Research/Extension).  Gary Johnson reporting.

 

MN Department of Agriculture

Lots of questions coming in regarding DED, but the DOA policy is to let cities take care of their own.  The DOA is still doing DED and oak wilt lab testing.  Steve Shimek reporting.

 

Jeff Cordes and Lara Newberger reported that there have been lots of challenges to DED marked trees by citizens.

 

Nomination of new members:

Josh (?), Barb (?), Brian (?) and Rebecca (?). Mike Max made the motion to accept the new members and Mark Schnobrich seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

Committee Reports:

  • Lara Newberger, re: 30th anniversary of MnSTAC.  The Tree Biz brochure covers the MSA fall conference and MnSTAC celebration.  Deadline for registration is Monday, Sept. 20.
  • Mike Max for Database Management.  He is merging several databases into one, which should make it easier to update changes.
  • Gary Johnson for Research and Education and the Advocate.   Advocate planning meeting coming up soon and the committee requested ideas for articles from the MnSTAC group.  Janet Larson suggested something about controlling buckthorn…Don't remove good understory trees in the process.  Hire someone good at I.D.  Janet volunteered to write an article.  Jeff Cordes suggested "does DED infect Siberian elm?   If so, does it become an infection center?  Mike Max suggested printing the results of the DNA testing of the Accolade elms at the TRE nursery.
  • Kathy Widin for Forest Health.  Requested assistance on the committee for attacking the problems of invasives (plants, insects and diseases).
  • Katie Himanga for Urban Interface.  The committee is in the formative stages.  First meeting hopefully in mid-October, and hopefully in Hastings.  The committee is looking for a city forester from a city with good ordinances..  In S.E. MN, in Rochester, MSA will have a grant-writing workshop.
  • Mark Schnobrich for Community Outreach Ambassadors: Trying to get more Tree City USAs and more participation from existing cities.  In Hutchinson and west central MN, there are opportunities to get city service organizations involved in UF, e.g., replanting of Buffalo, MN by Rotary members.
  • Dave Hanson for the Web site Committee. Working on remodeling the MnSTAC web site.  Suggestions and help gratefully accepted.

 

Field Reports:

Elms marked or already removed:

  • Eden Prairie >2000.
  • St. Paul: 300-400% increase (1300 in boulevards, 1300 private property).
  • Plymouth: around 1700.
  • Hutchinson: 100 elms (normal is 80/year).
  • St. Louis Park: 2378 (compared to 750 last year).
  • Andover: DED up (but no numbers); Oak wilt about the same.
  • Bloomington: more than 2000 (more than double normal).
  • Kathy Widin: Oak wilt and DED is handled as a response action, assisting homeowners in her contracted cities.  She has focussed more on risk trees.
  • Chanhassen: spike in oak wilt, and elm losses are about the same as in the past.  A bigger issue is the decline/death of sugar maples and green ash.
  • Anoka: 333 elms marked, and 49 oaks (6-7 of them bur oaks).

 

Guest Speaker: 

Steve Shimek, and how the MDA is working to control invasives through their nursery inspection program: emerald ash borer, sudden oak death, Asian long-horned beetle, gypsy moth and invasive plants.

 

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn was made by Glen Hambleton, seconded by Dave Sundmark.  Unanimously passed at 11:40 a.m.