Approval of Minutes. The minutes of the 7/18/02 membership meeting were 
reviewed and approved as corrected (a typo). Motion/Second/Carried: Michael 
Max/Kirk Brown.

Announcements, Open Forum, Calendar Items:
Lorrie Stromme announced that this and remaining MnSTAC meetings through 2002 had been approved for ISA CEU’s (one CEU per meeting, and 2.5 for the August field tour). Lorrie also announced that MnSTAC’s “E-news” is now being circulated monthly to MnSTAC members via email. 

Lorrie reported that there are two openings for directors on the MnSTAC board of 
directors for two-year terms, effective January 1, 2003. The election will be held in December, 2002. Submit nominations to Ken Simons by November 25, 2002. These openings are for “non-designated” MnSTAC members, i.e., not an employee of any of these state agencies: Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Transportation, or the University of Minnesota. 

Kirk Brown distributed copies of “Benefits of Trees in Urban Areas,” which provides facts and figures about how trees function as part of a community’s infrastructure and quantifies the environmental benefits they provide.

Several folks reported about the Minnesota Society of Arboriculture’s Fall Workshop at St. John’s on September 13, 2002. The air knife® demonstration was well received. When doing pruning every 5 years, check the roots, too. The air knife makes it easy and quick to do.

Paul Buck said that the deadline for submitting photographs for MnSTAC’s Photo Contest is November 15, 2002. Contact Paul for further information in Lara Newberger’s absence (maternity leave … congratulations, Lara!). 

Jim Hermann reported that the gypsy-moth aerial spraying program in southwest Minneapolis and Golden Valley was very effective. Only two caterpillars have been found in the Lake Harriet area, and none were found in Golden Valley. 

Katie Himanga said that red oak borer has been detected in areas of southern Minnesota, and Jeff Cordes said that spider mites have been a problem in Eden Prairie recently. 

University of Minnesota: Gary R. Johnson said that his planting-depth study at Bailey’s Nursery will be completed in October. After harvesting the trees, Gary will evaluate root growth and root volume variations among the species in the study.

Fee for the Advocate: Members discussed a proposal to charge a fee for the Shade Tree Advocate newsletter to help defray the publication, printing, and distribution costs. [The Advocate has been on an involuntary hiatus, owing to a change in editors and state budget/contract considerations; however, the Advocate is back on track, with Judy Slater is under contract to produce up to four issues of the Advocate over the next 12 months. The next issue is the Winter issue, due out in January 2003.] The Advocate is circulated statewide. Gary Johnson said that $10 per year would cover costs. Members discussed the idea of following DNR’s policy of asking readers for voluntary subscriptions to the Volunteer magazine. Motion/Second: Michael Max/Tom Schuster: to request recipients contribute $10 per year for the Advocate on a voluntary basis for a two-year trial period. Motion carried. Kirk Brown offered to receive the contributions and hold them in MnSTAC’s account for miscellaneous expenses. Gary Johnson offered to hold the money in a University CUFS account. 

Feature Program: New Tools for Removal of Buckthorn and Regrowth? Speaker: Norm Erickson, Rochester resident, volunteer buckthorn buster, and retired field service instructor for IBM. 

Norm Erickson described himself as a member of a buckthorn “hate group.” He presented photographic evidence of the encroachment of buckthorn in native woodlands. Norm distributed a detailed chart of control options and discussed various both manual and chemical control methods. He showed various pieces of equipment to control buckthorn. Norm recommends cutting and hauling buckthorn in aesthetically sensitive areas, but warns that cut-buckthorn is does not die, it’s just gets mad. It resprouts in retaliation, and he and his volunteer crews go “mining” for volunteers every year. Another problem is that buckthorn is “self-protected,” because all parts of it are cathartic. 

Norm also discussed the obstacles to community action to eradicate buckthorn. It is an “invisible” problem, because people tend to see it as benign: a green, growing part of the forest. According to Norm, public education is the key to getting a control program started and building community awareness of the problem. Norm distributed a handout about how to plan for control of buckthorn. 

Gary Johnson warned against chipping buckthorn and spreading it around instead of hauling it away, because even the chips have the potential to resprout. 

Lorrie thanked Norm for his wonderful, informative presentation, and thanked Bachman’s for hosting the meeting.

Adjournment: M/S/C Michael Max/Rich Hauer. Adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

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