Hi everyone! My name is Katie Estlund, and I joined the UW–Madison Extension Forestry team last month. I’m based in Wausau, and I’m excited to work with landowners across the state to help you better understand and care for your land. My background includes working as a forester with the Wisconsin DNR, an urban forestry outreach specialist with LEAF, and an environmental educator at Tomorrow River Charter School. Each experience has given me a different perspective on forests and the people who care for them.

One thing I love about Wisconsin’s woods is that you can walk the same trail throughout the year and notice something different every time. At first glance, a forest in August may seem to be settling into late summer, but look closer, and you’ll see that plenty is changing. Black cherries are ripening, and goldenrods and other late-summer wildflowers are adding a new wave of color along woodland edges. Goldenrod (Solidago) is a native perennial that blooms from late summer through fall, producing bright yellow flower plumes that provide a critical food source for pollinators when most other flowers have faded.

Trees are also quietly preparing for the season ahead by putting energy into their roots, and some leaves are beginning to show subtle hints of the changes to come. If you notice color change, leaf drop, or the tree self-pruning by dropping branches, it’s a clear indicator that your trees are actively preparing for the winter months. If you actively work on timber stand improvement in your woods, this is also the best time to inspect, prune, and protect trees to ensure they survive and thrive through the winter season.

I’m looking forward to meeting landowners and connecting what you see in your woods with what it means for the future of your property. I’ll be at several of our Learn About Your Land classes this fall (keep scrolling for details), and I hope to see you there!

—Katie Estlund, Forestry Outreach Educator

Credit: Wisconsin DNR (left); Paul Wray, Iowa State University, Bugwood.org (right)

As summer ends and fall is just around the corner, many tree seeds are ripe for the plucking. When we think about forest management, we can often overlook the importance of ensuring adequate tree regeneration (the growth of young trees) in our forest stands. In many areas in Wisconsin, tree regeneration is declining due to a variety of factors such as increased deer browse pressure, fire suppression, and invasive species (just to name a few). Increasingly, it’s important to think about preserving seed sources in our forests and actively helping young trees to take root. An important mechanism to improve tree regeneration is the process of tree planting, especially in stands that have understocked regeneration. But in order to plant, we first need the seeds to grow those seedlings in our nurseries!

The Wisconsin DNR Reforestation Program pays Wisconsinites to collect tree seeds. Your collection efforts help to increase tree nursery stocks for key reforestation projects across our state, including providing seedlings that the public can buy. If you decide to collect tree seeds, here are some important tips.

Communicate before you collect. Our nurseries highly recommend contacting them before you go to collect tree seeds. Nurseries will indicate what tree species they need, their pricing, and their collection protocols.

Get permission for tree seed collection. If you are planning to collect on private land, you’ll need to get permission from the landowner. If you’re collecting on public land, you need to connect with the property manager to seek approval. Sometimes, a collection permit may be required.

Know your species ID. Knowing how to correctly identify the tree you want to collect seed from is a crucial step. This will save you the headache of inadvertently misidentifying a species and being unable to sell the seeds you’ve collected!

Know when is best to collect. Every species has an optimal collection window for viable seeds. For example, you should wait until after September 1 to harvest red pine cones to ensure they are mature. Understanding phenological cues that indicate ripeness is also important. Red pine cones that are ready for collection are still closed and have changed in color from green (too early to collect) to purplish brown (ready to collect).

—Keith Phelps, Forestry Outreach Educator

Credit: Wisconsin DNR

Continuing the theme of observing closely, let’s move below the young trees to another easily overlooked part of your forest’s well-being: the soil! Keeping the soil healthy is crucial for achieving any of the goals you have for your woodland—including getting a new generation of trees to grow. The physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil all affect how plants grow. Here are three processes that can harm soil quality:

Compaction happens when soil particles are pressed together, removing pore spaces. Heavy equipment, motorized vehicles, cattle, and even persistent foot traffic can cause compaction. When the soil becomes denser, plant roots have a harder time penetrating it, and beneficial tiny critters (insects, fungi, nematodes, and bacteria) often decline in population.

Rutting happens when a heavy vehicle drives across wet soil, creating deep furrows. Rutting can cut tree roots, which makes it harder for trees to absorb nutrients and creates wounds where harmful pests and diseases can enter.

Erosion happens when soil particles are swept away by flowing water, winds, or gravity. Steep slopes and areas with little vegetation are especially vulnerable to erosion. Erosion takes away nutrient-rich topsoil that has built up slowly over decades and centuries, making it harder for plants to thrive.

So, what can you do to keep your soil healthy? Start by looking at the soil moisture and texture, the terrain, and the plant communities on your land to determine how vulnerable it is to soil quality issues. Then plan your uses of the land accordingly. For example, if you want to create new trails or roads in your woods, put them in lower-risk areas (like flat ground with sandier soil). If you have bare soil that could erode, plant native seeds to stabilize the soil. And if you plan to have heavy equipment in your woods for a timber harvest, be sure to talk with your forester and your logger about how they will protect the soil during operations.

Feel free to contact us with questions about your woodland!

Keith Phelps (Appleton)

Forest resilience

keith.phelps@wisc.edu

Johanna Desprez (Madison)

Forest stewardship plans

johanna.desprez@wisc.edu

Olivia Kovacs (Portage)

Learn About Your Land

olivia.kovacs@wisc.edu

Kris Tiles (Wausau)

Legacy planning

kris.tiles@wisc.edu

Tony Johnson (Horicon)

Non-timber forest products

anthony.johnson@wisc.edu

Katie Estlund (Wausau)

Learn About Your Land

katie.estlund@wisc.edu

Jamie Nack (Madison)

Wildlife

jlnack@wisc.edu