Monthly Meeting Minutes
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
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ATTENDANCE: |
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Barbeau, Emily |
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City of |
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Bathke, John |
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MFA |
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Brown, Kirk |
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Tree Trust |
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Burks, James |
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City of |
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Burks, Sue |
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MN DNR Metro Forestry |
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Condon, Robert |
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Tree Care Advisor |
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Cordes, Jeff |
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City of |
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Edwardson, Paul |
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City of |
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Fallon, Dennis |
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XCEL Energy |
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Fiedler, Chuck |
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Department of Horticultural Science |
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Hermann, James |
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Holman, Ken |
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MN DNR Metro Forestry |
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Hove, Gregg |
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City of |
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Johnson, Fletcher |
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Xcel Energy |
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Johnson, |
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Kopp, Ginger |
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USDA Natural Resources Conversation Service |
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Kytonen, Kameron |
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City of |
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Larson, Janet |
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EcoDesign & Consulting |
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Markeson, Tina |
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MnDOT |
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Max, Michael |
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EnvionMentor Systems |
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McCartney, |
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Private Consultant |
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Monear, Janette |
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Tree Trust |
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Mueller, Karl |
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U of M |
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Nicholson, Stephen |
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Kunde Company Inc. |
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Preece, Kathleen |
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Better Forests Magazine |
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Ryberg, Sara |
New Member |
Xcel Energy |
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NSchnobrich, Mark |
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City of |
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Schuster, Tom |
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City of |
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Shimek, Steven |
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MN Department of Agriculture |
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Simons, Ken |
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Heritage Tree |
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Spears, Barb |
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Tree Trust |
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Vaughan, Jim |
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City of |
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Widin, Katharine |
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Plant Health Associates, Inc. |
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Call to
Order
President Simons called the meeting to order at
Introductions and Nomination of New
Members
Fletcher
Johnson nominated and John Bathke seconded the nomination of Sara Ryberg for membership.
Motion carried.
Review and Motion to Approve
Previous Meeting Minutes
Committee and Partner Reports
Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources
There are
two important bills making their way through the Legislature. Ken Holman and Sue have been participating in
the hearings. These bills have generated
a lot of interest and controversy due to implications for both MN DNR and MDA
on how dollars will be allocated for the shade tree program. Both agencies doubt either bill will pass
this session. The people working on this
legislation from MN DNR and MDA will work with MnSTAC to craft a new bill for
next year. This discussion/process will begin
in June.
The MN ReLeaf
Steering committee meets next week to review the program. $500,000 is the total for the biennium with
$350,000 available for grants. In
addition, a total of $400,000 from the FS for oak wilt
suppression, a portion of which is available through MN ReLeaf for 2005-2006. Applications go out in April, with submissions
due the end of May. Proposals will be
reviewed in June and the dollars will be made available in July.
The oak
wilt data still needs to be worked on and a presentation will be given to
MnSTAC members when the data is fully analyzed and interpreted. The
DED/U&CF survey responses are due to Tree Trust by March 15. Information from the survey will be used to
quantify the numbers of trees affected and will be shared with Legislators to
encourage funding support.
Legislative Committee
The MPRB
convened the Minneapolis Tree Advisory Commission this year, made up of many
MnSTAC members. The Commission put
together an emergency report submitted to the Mayor, City Council, and MPRB in
response to DED. This is seen as a potential
catalyst to accomplish other things with MPRB.
Kirk Pederson, MPRB lobbyist, has written language for a bill to be
introduced this week seeking $30 million dollars. The Commission members have had meetings with
the Forest Service and others seeking funds of up to $50,000 that could
possibly be dedicated to Mpls for tree planting and education. The Commission is also looking at FS dollars
to respond to DED, or a possible earmark for $1.5 million for the entire Metro
Area. They have been in contact with
Mayor Daly of
The MnSTAC
Forestry Alert 2005 has been distributed to all legislators and the Governor,
all communities, and is posted on the MnSTAC website. State legislators are starting to take
notice. The challenge is gaining support
from greater MN.
A supply of
100 copies of the MnSTAC Forestry Alert 2005 was given to MNLA to hand out
during their legislative activities.
MnSTAC members are encouraged to participate in the MNLA “Day on the
Hill” on March 3. While many legislators
have received the report, many have not actually read it. It must be handed directly to them. All MnSTAC members are encouraged to get the
word out! Direct contact with
constituents is the best strategy.
Web Committee
Ken Holman
reported on the progress of the web portal with CEL/Atropolis,
MNTrees.org. Four versions of the proposed
logo are available for MnSTAC members to choose from. The by-line is “Tap Into
Expertise.” The Web Committee expects
to demonstrate this new website at the Shade Tree Short Course. It will be officially launched on April 29 at
the Arbor Day Celebration at the State Capital.
General Business
Ken Simons
reported on a pilot project for MnSTAC; the Ambassador Program. Designated MnSTAC Ambassadors will be located
throughout the state and will carry the U&CF message to communities. Mark Schnobrich (City of
Mark
Schnobrich commented that 3 women decided that New Ulm wasn’t doing enough in
urban and community forestry and convened a meeting of community people. These women did a tremendous outreach effort attracting
88 people including Senator Dennis Frederickson, the mayor, council members,
street supervisors, planners, etc. Mark
gave a presentation at this meeting.
Jim Hermann
reported on the MPLS program to remove diseased trees. All 5,200 public trees have been removed and
the over 10,274 private trees are anticipated to be removed within a month. MPRB is hiring seasonal people to remove
8,000 stumps resulting in reduced tree planting. MPRB is redoing its tree specs hoping to get
more potential contractors to bid. Jim
pointed out that the MDA Tree Care Company Registry, created in response to
legislation that requires companies and people who remove trees, limbs,
branches, brush or shrubs for hire to register with the State of
Jim Hermann
reported on the use of tub grinders enhancing utilization and saving
money. Historically, MPRB did not use
tub grinders and would haul debris to the yard.
Now, because of the volume of material, they are using a tub grinder ($600/hr,
latest bid $299/hour for grinding time) with a staging area which allows for
quicker removal of trees, reduced disease concerns, and lower costs. Jim will report the actual numbers in a few
months, but initial calculations suggest that at $5/cubic yard for dumping
chips, the 36,000 cubic yards of wood chips that are given away to
neighborhoods will result in a cost savings of $180,000.
Mark
Schnobrich said that the SWCDs will also be holding a “Day on the Hill” event
and suggested that we are missing an opportunity with these folks. We need to find those interconnections and
maximize on them. Mark offered to
coordinate with SWCDs on the U&CF message.
FORUM:
Speaker: Fletcher Johnson and Dennis Fallon, Vegetation Management
Specialists, Xcel Energy
Presentation: “Trees, Lights, & You: Xcel Energy’s Role in Community
Forestry”
Xcel Energy
has changed quite a bit over the past few years because of mergers and new management. Xcel has over 11,000 employees working in 10
states to provide service to 3.2 million electricity customers and 1.8 million
natural gas customers. The budget is $35
million annually.
Distribution
trimming work is directed by Dennis and Fletcher. They are pruning elms throughout the year. There is not enough research to support/not
support the effects of pruning on elms during the growing season and DED. They
are not pruning oak during the oak wilt season unless necessary. If it is necessary, they apply paint to the
wounds.
Pruning
Trees booklet is being used for homeowners because of the information related
to line clearance that is a little more extensive than other publications.
The ECI
Utility Cost Survey was funded by ISA Research Trust fund and looks at line
clearance costs and gives projected increased costs caused by not sticking with
projected budget.
ADJOURNMENT:
John Bathke
moved to adjourn the meeting and
Meeting
adjourned at