By Kathleen Preece, Executive Director at Minnesota Forest Resources Partnership and MNWWN Executive Committee Member
The headlines in the Bemidji Pioneer newspaper on June 21 read: “It’s hard to comprehend . . .” and “Recover.” “Rebuild.”
The northern Beltrami County community of Bemidji was victim of a derecho during the early morning hours of Saturday, June 21.
Minnesota Master Naturalist Submission: Cheryl Batson
2022 started as an odd year for foraging. Typically, April is the beginning of spring foraging in the Twin Cities. This year, though, was pretty much a wash with its unseasonal wet, winter-like temperatures followed by unseasonably warm summer temperatures. This has resulted in a very brief harvesting period for such things as the ostrich fern fiddleheads and a delayed harvest for morels.
By Jennifer Teegarden, Cooperative Forest Management Program outreach specialist and Woodlands of Minnesota landowner handbook project manager
Healthy forests affect all of us. They provide clean water, wildlife habitat, recreation, and forest products. With 44% of Minnesota forests under private ownership, the Private Forest Management Program (PFM) created a series of nine Woodlands of Minnesota landowner handbooks and website to guide and inspire private landowners to keep their forests healthy, according to THEIR local landscape.
Eli Sagor, UMN Extension Specialist, Cloquet Forestry Center
As we juggle the demands of jobs, family, and other commitments, many of us have limited opportunities to slow down and connect with nature. This is particularly relevant in May, as we recognize National Mental Health Awareness Month. Those of us who have built a strong connection to natural places understand the many ways that time outside can reduce anxiety, remind us of the simpler things, and build mindfulness as we breathe and notice nature around us.
by Misi Stine, Environmental Educator and member of the MN Herpetological Society
Spring is a time of awakening for many animals from that long winter nap, which includes turtles, tortoises and terrapins, but for this article I will refer to them collectively as turtles. Soon we will start to see turtles moving from winter to summer habitats, and in May/June we will see females moving across the landscape to find “the perfect” place to lay their eggs. As turtles move around the landscape, some travel long distances, and they are often seen crossing roads to get to their intended destination. Unfortunately, many turtle species are on the decline, some at an alarming rate. There are several factors contributing to those declines. One significant cause is road mortality which is human-driven. Even small declines in a turtle population can lead to long-term downward trends.
By Barb Spears, Metro Area MNWWN
This walk was hosted by MNWWN member Kim Melhus and her husband, Jon, for participants to learn about how they are implementing their woodland stewardship plan on their 40-acre property in Hugo. Their property includes 25 acres of oak woodland, 7 acres of seasonally flooded wetlands, 6 acres of freshwater pond, and 2 acres designated as the homestead.
By Amelie Hyams, DNR Forestry Outreach Specialist
Minnesota’s trees are being negatively impacted by increasing pressure from pests, diseases, and invasive species, changing temperatures and precipitation, and more extreme weather events due to climate change. Now more than ever, this Arbor Day (April 29) and Arbor Month (May) we need to plant trees that will be resilient to these stresses!
By Sophia Patane, MNWWN Board Member and Community Engagement Coordinator at WaterLegacy
From lakes and ponds to rivers, streams, and aquifers, water saturates our lives as Minnesotans. The quality of our water has a fundamental impact on our quality of life—and the quality of life that we observe in our woodlands.
Science shows that woodlands and water have a mutually beneficial partnership. Trees help prevent erosion and filter excess nutrients before they can flow into water bodies. In turn, clean water benefits the health of every living thing in the surrounding ecosystem.
By Allissa Reynolds, MNDNR Firewise Specialist
Have you ever considered your annual yard cleanup to be a wildfire mitigation practice? Well it is! That’s right, if you clean your gutters, rake leaves, prune your trees and shrubs, or even just mow your grass, you’re already on your way to becoming Firewise (the practice of living safely near or in areas that can be damaged by wildfires).
By Julie Miller, Rochester MNWWN Member
It all started back in February of 1993. Whitewater State Park was offering a class on cultivating maple syrup through Continuing Education. Our girls were young and this sounded like a great adventure. We had recently purchased some land suitable for fishing, hiking, camping and who knows? Perhaps even maple syruping!
By Misi Stine Environmental Educator and member of the MN Herpetological Society
When Europeans settled what is now Minnesota, the white-tailed deer range was limited to the southern and central parts of the state. When the new settlers cleared forests for wood products and agriculture, it forever changed the landscape. By the 1880s, degraded habitats from agricultural conversion, hunting for both subsistence and to supply markets with meat, reduced the deer population significantly. Subsequent changes in management practices have resulted in an amazing rebound in the number of deer, primarily due to the landscape alterations, which opened new habitats and allowed white-tailed deer to move into areas they had not previously occupied. Today the white-tailed deer population in Minnesota is much larger than it was at the time of European settlement, and they are found throughout the state. (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, n.d.)
Excerpt from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Woodlands of Minnesota Landowner Handbook with additional content by Jennifer Teegarden.
Wildlife need four key features: food, water, shelter, and space. Wildlife can generally find their own water sources, given suitable habitat. Adding food, shelter, and space will enhance wildlife habitat in your woods.
Different wildlife species have different needs, so any action you take will inevitably favor certain species over others. Be sure you are clear about what kinds of wildlife you wish to attract before making any changes to your land.
By Angela Gupta, reviewed by Matt Russell and Shirley Nordrum, UMN Extension Educators
Forests are vibrant changing ecosystems that are dynamic with plants, animals, fungi, weather and of course people. Minnesota’s woods are owned and managed (or not) by many thousands of private woodland owners and various local, county, state, federal and tribal agencies and organizations. Each land owner and land manager has their own hopes and dreams for the land. Commonly those goals include supporting healthy, sustainable and resilient forests; rarely is the goal explicitly to harvest timber. However, many landowners learn that harvesting wood is often an important part of cultivating healthy woodlands.
by Misi Stine
No one I know would be surprised if I said this was a challenging year with the drought. We saw our lawns dry up as well as plants and trees struggling not only in our yards but across the state. Depending on where you were in Minnesota, the drought conditions throughout the summer varied from moderate to exceptional. Water use restrictions were implemented. Campfires, and other burning, were banned across the state. Despite those restrictions, there were several fires in northern Minnesota with persistent dry and hot conditions. I observed water across the state become scarcer in my travels, from ponds drying up entirely to the mighty Mississippi River at levels so low I wondered if I could walk across as I drove over a bridge in Monticello one day in early August. It also impacted human activities: the inability to use certain water resources due to low levels, the loss of homes, cabins, and restrictions on the use of The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA), a favorite destination of summer travelers. (Drought in MInnesota, 2021), (Simon, 2021) (Coexisting with Wildlife During Droughts, n.d.), (Seitz, 2021)
Article Written By Cheryl Culbreth, MNWWN Board Member and Owner of Landscape Restoration, Inc.
Rita Erickson contacted Cheryl Culbreth, MNWWN board member, in January to create a habitat restoration / buckthorn control plan for her six-acre woodland property in Scandia. During a February site visit, Cheryl strongly encouraged Rita to add a basic trail system to the nearly impassible brush and terrain as part of the overall restoration work plan. The impact of Lyme disease occasionally zapped Rita’s energy. A trail would make access much easier for Rita, widen the “no tick” zone, and offer the benefit of new perspectives on what was growing in the woodland.
By Misi Stine, Environmental Educator, Member of the MN Herpetological Society
When you think of how animals adapt and survive winter, many strategies come to mind. Some migrate to locations south where conditions are more favorable, such as bird and bat species. Some animals take the "I am a winter warrior" approach and are active all year round. Depending on the winter, they tend to thrive more, and others struggle more. A great example is white-tailed deer. In mild winters, they can find more vegetation to forage and better maintain their winter body condition. In more severe winters where they have trouble getting to the remaining available food and deep snow, they find it challenging to make it to spring. Conversely, wolves thrive in more severe winters, when the ungulates make more effort to survive and are easier to make a meal out of them. Wolves' snowshoe-like feet help them stay on top of the snow better, using less energy to move around.
By Jennifer Teegarden, MDNR Cooperative Forest Management Outreach Specialist and MNWWN Board Member
Keeping trees and forests on the landscape is the easiest way to produce clean water—for drinking, recreation, and wildlife habitat. Studies show protecting watersheds upstream from a city is cheaper than building treatment plants to produce clean drinking water1. For example, a survey of 27 water suppliers in 2002 by the Trust for Public Land and the American Water Works Association found that for every 10 percent increase in forest cover in a source watershed, treatment and chemical costs decreased by about 20 percent.
By Angela Gupta, UMN Extension Professor of Forestry and MNWWN Board Member
Jumping worms (Amynthas spp.) are a relatively new and very troublesome species in Minnesota. Like all earthworms in Minnesota, these are non-native. However, unlike most earthworms currently found in Minnesota jumping worms live in the top few inches of soil, can survive in surprisingly and troublesomely dense populations, and eat organic material including leaves, mulch and even plants. These worms can wreak havoc on gardens and the gardeners that tend to them. (To learn more about jumping worms visit the UMN Extension website.)
By Jennifer Teegarden, MN DNR Cooperative Forest Management Outreach Specialist and MNWWN Board Member
I know I don’t need to preach the importance of trees and forests to members of the Minnesota Women’s Woodland Network. However, I do want to give you some talking points to tell family and friends, and even strangers, the importance of trees and forests to our mental and physical health.
