Lorrie Stromme announced the topics and speakers for the October, November, and December MnSTAC membership meetings. Details will be posted on the MnSTAC website.
	Janet Larson distributed flyers about the Buckthorn Conference scheduled for October 3, 2001, at the Minnesota Landscape Arbortetum.
	Lisa Burban announced that the Minnesota Society of Arboriculture (MSA) was seeking nominations for annual awards.
	Janette Monear announced that the Tour de Sprawl, a 28-mile bike tour, will take place on September 23, 2001. Details are posted on the MnSTAC website.
	Mark Stennes said that Turf & Grounds Conference may combine with the MNLA Conference in January 2003, so MSA will have its own Fall conference in 2002. Mark also reported that Minneapolis was selected as the site for the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) conference in 2006. Mark thanked Don Mueller and others for doing a great job on organizing the 2001 Tour des Trees (Minneapolis to Milwaukee bicycle tour).

Field Reports and Agency Reports:

	Marie Jones, University of Minnesota, reported that the following research projects were underway by U of MN reseachers: Planting depth study; containerized trees/windthrow study; root pruning of pot-bound trees; grafting vs. imbedding; Hackberry root-depth survey; and tree performance on urban brownfield sites. Impending projects include a utility arboriculture demonstration area on the St. Paul campus and a study on the compartmentalization of wounding from lawn mowers and string trimmers.
	Rich Hauer, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, reported that the gypsy moth trapping program will be pulling the last traps from the summer trapping season over the next few weeks. Traps from Southern Minnesota were pulled in late August and early September. Remaining traps in Northern Minnesota will be removed by late September. To date approximately 400 moths (not final count) have been trapped. Few additional moths are expected to be caught. Only 34 of the moths were caught in standard detection traps. These traps are traps placed at densities of one per square mile or 1 per 4 square miles in areas were moths were not caught during previous trapping seasons. The majority (over 360) were caught in delimiting trapping areas. Delimiting traps are placed in areas that moths were caught during previous trapping season(s). This is done to determine if an infestation is present and also to isolate the potential infestation area. Four delimiting sites in Hennepin County and two in Southeast Minnesota had sufficient moth captures (324 of the 400 moths captured) to trigger searches for alternative life forms of the moth. Alternative life form surveys are conducted to determine if reproducing populations are present and control actions area warranted. Egg masses and pupal cases of the insect are searched for during these surveys. One survey has already been conducted in Minneapolis. This delimiting site had 170 moths captured and hundreds of egg masses, if not thousands, and numerous pupal cases were subsequently observed. An eradication control program will be conducted in the spring of 2002. Details of the control program are being developed in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture, APHIS-PPQ, and the City of Minneapolis. The egg masses are located within a small defined cluster of properties and searches in adjacent neighborhoods proved negative for alternative life forms. Prior to the survey residents in the area were all notified and have been extremely cooperative in supporting the eradication of gypsy moth within their neighborhood. Approximately 1500 letters to affected property owners and community meetings have been vitally important to the positive reception the MDA and City of Minneapolis have received to date. Additional egg mass surveys (3 within the metro and 2 in Southeast Minnesota) will be conducted in October. Outcomes from those activities will be distributed at a later date. The control program this past spring at a location in Southeast Minnesota has been a tremendous success. No gypsy moth were captured during this summer’s trapping season. Twenty-eight male moths were captured during the 2000 trapping season and a subsequent egg mass survey resulted in 3 egg masses being found.
	Ken Holman, DNR, thanked those who participated in the federal review of the DNR urban forestry program in August. Ken announced that the DNR was sponsoring educational workshops on silviculture-based management of forest stands to lessen the future impact of gypsy moth. Ken also said that the DNR had received MnReLeaf grant applications from all regions. Many projects were funded, but the funding level was scaled back. In the future, MnReLeaf will emphasize education and management more than just oak wilt control.
	Dan Gullickson, MnDOT, reported that there was more than 90% survival of plantings that used the geotextile fabric for weed control and moisture retention in the Living Snow Fence project. Dan also reported that MnDOT has worked to save large oak trees at the Highway 55 project and has developed the “Noble Oak Recovery Project.”

Committee Reports:

	Mark Schnobrich reported that the Legislative Committee would be meeting by conference call on September 26th. Agenda items include the form of the Annual Report to the Legislature and sources of future funding. Members interested in working with the Legislative Committee should contact Mark.
	Rich Hauer announced that Jan Hoppe, editor of the Shade Tree Advocate has resigned. She will stay on until her replacement is found.
	Ken Simons, chair of the Constitution Committee, proposed an amendment to the MnSTAC Constitution regarding the membership policy. The proposed amendment would strike the following language from Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution: “by participating in Committee approved activities.” Instead of demonstrating active participation in MnSTAC activities, membership will continue unless: (1) the member opts out of membership electronically via the MnSTAC website or by opting out by returning a post card mailed out annually to members in good standing or (2) membership is suspended in accordance with the Constitution. Ken will prepare ballots and mail them to MnSTAC members for voting on the proposed amendment.

This web page is maintained by Dave Hanson, dlhanson@umn.edu.
 If you have any comments or would like to post something, please e-mail him.