SilviCast

Foresters are pretty good at stand-level silviculture. But what if we want to make changes to forest vegetation at a much larger scale? Silviculture at scale to impact landscape-level change is much trickier, whether that's aiming for a target age-class distribution or meeting the broad habitat needs of birds. Where do we even begin?  In walks the concept of Dynamic Forest Restoration Blocks, or the strategy of breaking up the landscape into manageable and biologically meaningful units where we can focus on specific forest management objectives. Join us on this episode as we talk with pioneers of this concept, Jeff Larkin, professor in the Department of Biology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Forest Bird Advisor with the American Bird Conservancy, and Dan Heggenstaller, North Central Regional Forester with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.Send us a text To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

Garlic mustard blooms, panic ensues! Many foresters in the eastern hardwood forests of North America can appreciate this sentiment as they see yet another invasive plant, garlic mustard, colonize their woodlands and forests. Maybe they just make note of it on the inventory or maybe they prescribe an aggressive treatment plan of pulling and herbicides. But maybe there is a different approach… time. Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we talk with Dr. Bernd Blossey, Professor at Cornell University, about his interesting and innovative research on garlic mustard invasions. Send us a text To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

Buckthorn has been the bane of many foresters and forest landowners throughout eastern North America. This long-lived, woody plant is capable of forming dense thickets, degrading native understory plant communities and impeding tree regeneration. While herbicide control measures can be effective, managers have struggled for long-term control of this prolific plant. Join for this episode of SilviCast as we explore ways to disrupt the buckthorn cycle with Dr. Mike Schuster, Researcher at the Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center. Send us a text To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

It's hard to turn around these days without seeing or reading something about UAVs or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Drones are becoming an increasingly important tool in many fields, including within the practice of silviculture. On this episode of SilviCast we explore the soaring use of drones for site preparation and release treatments. Join us for a conversation with Rick Hill, Regional Silviculturist and Reforestation Specialist with Michigan DNR and Kyle Schempp, Project Manager and Drone Pilot at Wildlife and Wetland Solutions.  To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

Foresters are increasingly aware of the importance of prescribed fire as a silvicultural tool in the maintenance and management of fire-adapted forest ecosystems.  At the same time concerns remain over the impact of those fires on the timber resource. Join us for a conversation with Mike Saunders, Professor of Silviculture in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University, as we explore the effects of prescribed fire on tree wounding and timber quality in the oak-hickory forests of North America.  To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

German foresters sometimes named silvicultural systems after the region where the treatment was developed and practiced. So it is with the Acadian femelschlag, a locally developed gap-based system designed to restore species diversity and structure to the mixedwood Acadian forests of Maine and eastern Canada. Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we talk with Robert Seymour, Curtis Hutchins Professor Emeritus of Silviculture at the University of Maine, about what he has learned from over four decades of innovative silvicultural research and teaching in the Acadian forests.  To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

Foresters need to make decisions every day, and sometimes difficult decisions as we attempt to understand and address the diverse needs of the land, the landowner, and others. Similar to marking a tree, these decisions often require us to walk all the way around to see an issue from all sides. Join us on this season 5 finale of SilviCast as we talk with Marianne Patinelli-Dubay, Environmental Philosophy Program Coordinator at the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, about ethics and silviculture. To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

We've all seen it in the field… Aldo Leopold alluded to it… parts of a forest ecosystem are missing or changed. Now the forest doesn't respond the same to silvicultural treatments that worked in the past. The forest is less predictable. In other words, the forest has lost memory, specifically ecological memory. Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we explore the concept of ecological memory with Chris Webster, professor of quantitative ecology at Michigan Technological University. Learn how memory can get lost and how thoughtful silviculture can help restore these memories. To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

The paint gun is a basic tool of the forestry trade. But what happens when we're two forties into the woods and our paint gun goes down? This can put a major clog in our day. Maybe the problem with our paint gun is us? Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we talk with three experts in the field about Trecoder, Panama, and Nel-Spot paint guns. Ethan Tapper with Bear Island Forestry, John Freeman with Panama Forestry Equipment, and Ryan Holm with Nelson Paint give us tips to keep our paint guns flowing freely!  To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

Most of us enjoying a little on-the-job foraging… some blackberries here, some morels there. But how often do we think about intentionally managing non-timber forest products?  Forest farming is an agroforestry practice than involves the intentional stewardship of edible, medicinal, and decorative crops beneath a forest canopy. Join us as we discuss the integration of forest farming and silviculture with Eric Burkhart, Teaching Professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Penn State University.  To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

If you are a forest practitioner in the eastern forests of North America (and maybe elsewhere) at one time or another you have likely been frustrated by white-tailed deer. Browse impacts on forest vegetation are significant and long-lasting, but those impacts are not the same everywhere making deer browse a challenging issue to both understand and address. Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we seek to better understand how deer impact our forests and what clues the latest science holds for mitigating browse impacts through silviculture. We spoke with two leading researchers on deer-forest interactions, Alex Royo, Research Ecologist with the US Forest Service's Northern Research Station, and Amanda McGraw, Research Scientist with the Wisconsin DNR.  To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

 It's an all too familiar scenario to foresters…a new pest is introduced into another part of the range and slowly works its way to a forest near you. So it goes with the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) that was introduced into eastern North America over 70 years ago. HWA has not yet arrived in Wisconsin, but can we learn from the research and field experience of our colleagues in the east? Are there silvicultural approaches that can be used to make hemlock trees and stands more resilient, along with other integrated pest management approaches? Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we discuss these approaches with Bud Mayfield, Research Entomologist with the USFS Southern Research Station and Robert Jetton, Associate Professor at North Carolina State University.  To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

If foresters have a super-power, it might just be the power of observation. They notice change in the forest and correlate facts that would otherwise be isolated and missed. As a result, foresters have the unique ability to adapt and find management solutions in a changing environment. In this episode of SilviCast we will explore an example in Iowa of changing environmental conditions and the cumulative effects on white oak (Quercus alba), and one forester's quest to find answers. Join our conversation with Iowa DNR Forester, Joe Herring, as we try to solve the mystery of the dying white oak trees. To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

 It pays to be observant! Ogijewski, a forest scientist working in Russia in the early 1900s observed that oaks sometimes regenerated in small clusters where wild boars disturb the forest floor. From this simple observation he developed a reforestation method called cluster planting, the planting trees or seeds in tightly-spaced, small functional groups. The method caught on in Europe and is now practiced as a way to decrease planting costs and restore stand diversity. In this episode of SilviCast we explore the practice of cluster planting with Dr. Somidh Saha from the Institute of Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis in Karlsruhe, Germany.  To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

It's not worth saying anything unless it's worth taking a long time to say, to paraphrase Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings. And sometimes you need to play the long game if you're a research forester too. Long-term silvicultural studies are surprisingly rare, but extremely valuable. That is why a recent paper on six decades of selection cutting results got our attention. The Cutting Methods Study is a long-term investigation of cutting systems in second-growth northern hardwood stands on the Argonne Experimental Forest in northern Wisconsin. Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we explore the somewhat surprising results with Christel Kern, Research Forester with the U.S. Forest Service's Northern Research Station.  To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

Sometimes foresters in eastern North America may feel as if they are in a Lemony Snicket novel, with chestnut blight, spongy moth, Dutch elm disease, and emerald ash borer creating a continuing series of unfortunate events.  Emerald ash borer or EAB is one of the most recent invasive pests with the potential to eliminate an entire tree species. And foresters have many questions on how to manage EAB impacted stands and what they can do to help maintain ash trees as a component of our forests. On this episode of SilviCast we talk with two of North America's leading researchers working on EAB genetics and ecology, Kathleen Knight and Jennifer Koch of the USFS Northern Research Station in Delaware, Ohio.

As foresters we spend a great deal of time looking up, to evaluate forest composition, structure and growth. The story below ground is equally as interesting however, with complex interactions between soils, nutrients, water, roots, and a host of other flora and fauna. As they say in Vegas, what happens below ground, stays below ground! Everything here is more difficult to study. This is particularly true about a class of organisms critical to trees, mycorrhizal fungi. We know that mycorrhizal fungi play an important role in allowing trees to uptake more nutrients and water. But does it go further than that? There have been a huge number of popular media stories talking about this subject, but what is the current state of the science?  And what do forester need to know about how these fungi impact tree growth, or how we impact mycorrhizal fungi through management? Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we explore this subject with Justine Karst, Associate Professor and mycologist with the University of Alberta, and Marty Kranabetter, Regional Soil Scientist with the British Columbia Ministry of Forests.​

No matter how you define it, old-growth forests are scarce as hen's teeth in the eastern United States. More than 99% of our forests are second growth. While we can't speed up time, we can speed up the development of old-growth characteristics through creative silviculture. Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we talk with Paul Catanzaro, Professor and State Extension Forester at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, about a range of silvicultural techniques to restore old-growth characteristics.

The official Society of American Foresters' definition of silviculture describes it as both an art and science. Are foresters both artists and scientists? What role does creativity play when developing a silvicultural prescription or setting up a timber sale? In forestry school we learn the foundational sciences of silvics, forest ecology, soils, wildlife, and water. And through experience and time spent in the forest we learn how to best apply that science to particular stands and site conditions. Join us on this season 4 finale of SilviCast as we talk with Marcella Windmuller-Campione, Associate Professor of Silviculture at the University of Minnesota, about keeping the creativity in silviculture and the importance of being a life-long learner.​​ ​

If you're a whiskey enthusiast, you are probably aware of a lesser-known federal law that requires all bourbon (an American whiskey) to be aged in a “charred new oak container." And those containers or casks are made almost exclusively from white oak (Quercus alba). But white oak has been popular long before the recent rise in whiskey-sipping Gen Xers! It is simply hard to overstate the importance of this tree species to forest products, wildlife habitat, and ecosystem services. In fact, stakeholders from across eastern North America have joined forces to promote the long-term sustainability of white oak forests through the White Oak Initiative. In this episode of SilviCast, we talk​ with one of the White Oak Initiative founders, Dr. Jeff Stringer, chair of the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Kentucky, about this critical tree species and the efforts to sustain it. ​

Good silviculture is about using the best available science, along with the experience and local knowledge we accumulate in the field. What if we practiced forestry in an area for not only one lifetime, but for generations upon generations. Imagine the knowledge-base we could draw from to guide our silviculture! Indigenous peoples have been managing forest vegetation for various purposes for generations, accumulating a great understanding of how forest ecosystems work, sometimes referred to as Traditional Ecological Knowledge. On this episode of SilviCast we explore this topic by looking at silviculture on the Menominee Forest. The Menominee Tribe has managed this 230,000-acre forest in north-central Wisconsin for 160 years and it is one of the first examples of sustained yield forestry in North America.  Join us as we talk with are our long-time forestry partners on the Menominee Forest… Ron Waukau, Forest Manager; Tony Waupochick, Silviculturist; and Pat Gauthier, Harvest Prep Forester.

They say if you want forest heterogeneity, just get a larger group of foresters to mark the stand. While it is true that not every forester marks the same, it is often challenging if we want to intentionally create spatial variability. Especially if we want to emulate spatial patterns that would be typical for a specific forest type and natural disturbance regime. The ICO method (which stands for individuals, clumps, and openings) is a stand-level tool developed in the western US to help foresters restore the patterns of individual trees, clumps, and openings commonly found in pine/mixed conifer forests shaped by frequent fire disturbance. Join us for a conversation with Dr. Sean Jeronimo, as we learn how this method is applied in the field and how it may be useful in a variety of forest types shaped by fire.​

Foresters love a challenge! And one such challenge in eastern Northern America has always been northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis). A both ecologically and commercially valuable tree species that can be slow-growing, tricky to regenerate, and highly susceptible to deer browse. Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we introduce you to the Cedar Club, a passionate group of forest practitioners and researchers who have been tackling the cedar management question for the pat 23 years. Explore the challenges and opportunities to sustainable management of northern white-cedar.Featured "Cedar Club" Guests: ​Dr. Laura Kenefic, Research Forester and Team Leader, USFS, Northern Research Station; Jean-Claude Ruel, Emeritus Silviculture Professor, Laval University; Charles Tardif, Vice President Manufacturing, Maibec; Dr. Olivier Villemaire-Côté​, Institut des Sciences de la Forêt Tempérée (ISFORT-UQO); and Victoria Hunter, Graduate Student, Michigan Technological University

It seems that every young forester may have heard the old adage “green side up" tossed at us half-jokingly while learning to plant our first tree seedlings, almost as if to say "don't overthink this one kid." As experienced foresters we soon learn that achieving tree planting success is a whole lot more complicated. There are critical variables from stock type to site preparation to planting technique. If the world is going to get the trillion tree initiative right, all of these variables must be addressed. And there may be no group of professionals who know these variables better than forest nursery managers.  Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we dig into the knowledge base of the Wisconsin DNR Reforestation Program staff.Guests​: ​​Joe Vande Hey, Reforestation Team Leader and State Nursery Superintendent, Roger Bohringer, Assistant Manager for the Wilson State Nursery, and Jeremiah Auer, Regeneration Specialist

We all know that oak and fire go together like peanut butter and jelly. What we have been missing is the practical knowledge of where, when, and how to apply fire in oak ecosystems. There are few who have contributed more to this knowledge base than Dr. Patrick Brose from the US Forest Service's Northern Research Station. Dr. Brose's research has developed key silvicultural applications of fire to regenerate and sustain oak forests and woodlands. Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we talk with Dr. Brose about what he has learned over the past 25 years of studying oak and fire. Pull up a chair, you will not want to miss a word!

Foresters have been warning landowners for years about the potentially damaging impacts of cows in their woods. So it is not surprising that we raise an eyebrow when conversations start about intentionally integrating livestock and forests. In this episode of SilviCast we explore the management practice known as silvopasture, or the intentional integration of trees, forage, and livestock. Join us as we discuss what silvopasture is and is not, with Rich Straight, Technology Transfer Leader at the U.S. Forest Service's National Agroforestry Center.

Business is booming if you own a commercial sugar bush! As forest managers, this means more and more of us are hearing from landowners interested in starting or maintaining a sugar bush. Unfortunately, if you are like us, you did not learn about maple syrup in forestry school. This episode's guest, Mark Isselhardt, Extension Maple Specialist with the University of Vermont, helps us unpack the fundamentals of sap production, sugar bush management, and how the industry has changed in the 21st century. To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the Syrup with Saps webpage.

Trees have had to migrate for millennia due to changes in climate. However, the pace of climate change today is far greater than historical tree migration rates, and land use changes have created new barriers to species movement. This has foresters and land managers thinking about the need for human-assisted movement of tree seed or seedlings to ensure that forests remain well-adapted to climatic conditions, a concept referred to as forest-assisted migration. In this episode of SilviCast we explore this complex issue with Dr. Carrie Pike, forest regeneration specialist with the U.S. Forest Service Eastern Region. Dr. Pike brings in-depth knowledge of forest genetics, nurseries, and reforestation to help us consider practical and strategic approaches to assisted migration.To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the episode webpage. 

Eastern white pine is an iconic tree of cultural and historical importance to eastern North America. The “great pineries” in this corner of the world were heavily exploited during the 19th century for everything from ship masts to lumber that built growing cities. But white pine has been quietly making a recovery over the past 150 years, and with that recovery white pine silviculture has continued to evolve. Join us for a conversation with Dr. William Livingston from the University of Maine as we explore the health and management of this fascinating tree species.​​​​To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the episode webpage. 

One of the most interesting aspects of silviculture is that our understanding keeps growing. We look to old approaches, new research, and field practice to better manage our forests for a host of societal needs.  And perhaps there is no better place to look than how these forests function in the natural world – a natural models approach. This is the basis of ecological silviculture and the tools behind emulating natural disturbance. Join us for a conversation with Dr. Tony D'Amato from the University of Vermont and Dr. Brian Palik from the U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station, and authors of Ecological Silviculture: Foundations and Applications.To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the episode webpage. 

Interfering vegetation, be it native or invasive, is a real headache for foresters.  Sometimes we wind up wishing for one more tool in the toolkit when none of the current ones seem to fit. Luckily, some foresters are innovating and exploring new options. Some are turning to the oldest tool we have: grazing. In this episode we explore the world of targeted goat grazing with Brooke Hushagen and Greg Haak of HaakHagen Goat Grazing LLC.   To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the episode webpage. 

Remember the natural regeneration triangle? Natural regeneration needs a seed supply, an environment conducive to seed germination, and a suitable seedbed. But sometimes it's difficult to get the right seedbed, especially when natural disturbances such as fire are lacking. Luckily foresters have another tool at their disposal: mechanical scarification. In this episode we dig deep into the topic of mechanical scarification with insights from Douglas County (Wis.) forester Craig Golembiewski and Clark County (Wis.) forester John Wendorski.To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the episode webpage. 

Wildlife habitat is the primary goal for many forest landowners, and in particular forest bird habitat.  Silviculture treatments have great potential to provide quality habitat for birds if we know what to look for. Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we take a walk in the woods with Mike Demchik, Professor of Silviculture at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, while we discuss how to recognize the bird habitat elements that are missing in a woods and better integrate those elements into our silvicultural treatments.To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast visit: https://www3.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/TheChessMatch.aspx.

In this second episode of our two-part series on forest carbon, we explore ways to enhance carbon storage and sequestration through silviculture.  Whether it is through our choice of silvicultural system, how and when we employ intermediate treatments, or our tree retention practices, we will discuss how we can impact forest carbon and a host of other stand objectives.  Join us for this fascinating conversation with Todd Ontl and Luke Nave from the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science!To learn more, earn CEUs/CFEs, or to interact with the SilviCast team visit: https://www3.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/TheCarbonCycleWontLeaveMeAlone.aspx

In forestry school we learned about photosynthesis; the process by which trees use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to form sugars and oxygen.  But most of us did not learn much about how to purposely manage forest carbon once it's in the ecosystem.  In this two-part series on forest carbon, we will explore ways to enhance carbon storage and sequestration through our silviculture.  In today's episode (Part 1) we talk with Alexandra Kosiba, Ph.D., the first state climate forester with the Vermont Department of Forest, Parks, and Recreation, to better understand the basics of forest carbon.For more information, show resources, or CEU/CFEs visit: https://www3.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/CarbonWHAT.aspx 

Necessity is the mother of invention, even in silviculture.  Foresters in the eastern US often struggle with regenerating trees due to severe deer browse.  Yet mitigating solutions, like fencing and tree shelters, are costly and problematic.  What if you could use a resource that is abundant, on-site, and cheap to keep the deer out?  On this episode of SilviCast we explore the innovative strategy of "slash walls," or the use of logging residues to form deer barriers around regenerating stands.  Join us as we explore the ins and outs of slash walls with Peter Smallidge - New York State Extension Forester, Brett Chedzoy - Regional Extension Forester at Cornell, and Jason Hennes – Forest Ranger with the Wisconsin DNR. Learn more about slash walls, earn CEUs/CFEs, and connect with SilviCast on our website: https://www3.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/Fly_on_the_Slash_Wall.aspx.

Fine hardwood veneer logs represent the pinnacle of log quality and timber value, with prices up to 10 times the price of grade 1 sawlogs.  However, trees of this quality can be rare as hens' teeth!  Are there practices foresters can use to improve the odds of producing veneer quality logs?  Are there mistakes we make while managing stands with veneer potential?  Join us on this episode of SilviCast as we explore the silviculture of managing veneer with Dr. Jan Wiedenbeck, recently retired Research Project Leader and Forest Products Technologist with the US Forest Service's Northern Research Station.For more information and CEU/CFEs visit the episode's website: https://www3.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/Reading-the-Bark.aspx. 

Savannas, woodlands, and other open forest systems once occupied vast areas of North America where fire disturbance, at least in part, shaped their structure and composition. Many of those acres have been lost since the advent of fire exclusion and other land use changes.  Resource managers and landowners are trying to restore some of these systems for their ecological and economic value.  Foresters have a lot to offer.  But these are not your average silviculture prescriptions!  In this episode of SilviCast we explore the challenges of restoring and managing savanna and woodland systems with John Kabrick, Ph.D., Research Forester with the USFS Northern Research Station.Learn more and interact with SilviCast on our webpage: https://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/Forests_in_Motion.aspx. 

A conversation with Dr. Susan Stout, Emeritus Research Forester and Project Leader at the USFS Northern Research Station, who has conducted applied silvicultural research in forests of the eastern United States for over 30 years.  One constant has run through Dr. Stout's research; collaboration between field managers and scientists holds the key to unlocking challenging problems and finding practical solutions.  Join us in this episode of SilviCast as we explore with Dr. Stout the things she has learned on topics ranging from stocking charts to deer.For more information and show notes visit: https://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/StockingChartsonNapkins.aspx

Silviculture is important work!  Nobody has all the answers.  So that is why each month on SilviCast we try to bring you a diverse set of guests, from the perspective of researchers and field foresters.  Besides our guests, however, we receive great insights from you, the listeners.  Join us on this Season 2 finale as we find out what's on your mind and discuss some of the most intriguing questions we have received in the Dropbox.Learn more and interact with SilviCast on our webpage.

When it comes to climate change, we all have questions.  As foresters some of our most fundamental climate change questions deal with how trees will respond.  What species are projected to do well or not so well?  What species will find new habitat where I work?  How do I make informed management decisions in the face of change?  On this episode of SilviCast, we dig into one tool that helps with these and other questions, The Climate Change Tree Atlas.   Our guests this episode, Louis Iverson, USDA-FS Northern Research Station (retired), and Stephen Handler, USDA-FS Northern Research Station, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS), walk through The Climate Change Tree Atlas and discuss how we can use it to make better management decisions.Learn more about this episode and SilviCast at: https://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/ClimateChangeHelpDesk.aspx

For many of us, one of our first experiences handling a paint gun is while learning to tend a pine plantation.  It all seems very straight forward… thin from below, a little thin from above, hit the target BA and move on.  But sometimes it helps to step back and think about the forest products we are attempting to produce.  And one of the most valuable products in a pine plantation can be a utility pole.  What does it take to grow and tend utility poles in our stands?  In this episode of SilviCast, we dive into the silviculture around utility pole management with Jim Bauer, a Resource Manager with Stella-Jones.

What is a forester to do when your soils are almost always dry and sandy and low in nutrients?  Skip the black walnut for sure and embrace the sand… or perhaps the pine barrens!  Pine barrens were once an expansive natural community is Wisconsin's northwest, northeast and central sands, but today occupy a limited area due to past management and changes in fire disturbance.  These savanna communities were characterized by a variable density of jack pine and oak, with a ground layer of  prairie grasses, forbs, and heath species.  To restore and maintain these disturbance-driven communities, foresters and ecologists are joining forces to find creative silvicultural solutions. Join us on this episode of SilviCast while we talk to Jennifer Boice, Forester for the Black River State Forest, and Armund Bartz, WDNR Regional Ecologist, about the challenges and fun of managing jack pine barrens.Guests: Armund Bartz and Jennifer Boice

Forest practitioners and researchers recently “gathered” virtually for the Northern Hardwood Conference 2021 (NHC 2021), the first range-wide conference dedicated to northern hardwood forests in over 30 years.  In this special episode of SilviCast we hear from conference attendees themselves in a conference roundtable as they discuss challenges facing the sustainable management of northern hardwood forests.  The challenges and potential solutions they offer have a lot to say about silviculture in every forest type!  

Lowland forests have always been a bit of a mystery to us foresters and silviculturists, at least here in the Lake States.  Disturbance regimes are not well understood, and effective silvicultural systems not well developed.  The swamps and floodplains can also be difficult places to actively manage when access is limited, and timber values are low.  But increasing research and management attention is being paid to these important forests as invasive species, such as Emerald Ash Borer, and the impacts of climate change threaten ecosystem function and productivity.  Today on SilviCast we talk with Marcella Windmuller-Campione, Assistant Professor of Silviculture at the University of Minnesota about her research in the swamps and floodplains of Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Can we find silviculture's secret sauce to help us restore these complicated forest systems.For more information and resources visit https://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/SilviculturesSecretSauce.aspx. 

What happened to the days when regenerating sugar maple was easy as falling off a log?  Unfortunately, foresters from across the range of northern hardwoods are frequently experiencing a dearth of well-established sugar maple seedlings, not to mention seedlings of other prized species such as yellow birch and basswood.  What is going on?  Is it deer, interfering vegetation, earthworms, our silvicultural systems?  In this episode of SilviCast we explore the challenges of naturally regenerating northern hardwoods with Mike Walters, Professor of Forest Ecology at Michigan State University and principle investigator on what has been dubbed "the big northern hardwood study."To interact with SilviCast and access this episode's show notes visit: https://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/Where-have-all-the-seedlings-gone.aspx.

There may be nothing more satisfying than planting a tree.  Artificial regeneration of hardwoods in particular however can be a challenge.  Trees are lost due to everything from improper planting to interfering vegetation to deer browse.  How do foresters maximize their success at not only having trees survive, but at long-term establishment and growth?  In this episode of SilviCast we explore the challenges of artificial regeneration of hardwoods with Doug Jacobs, the Fred M. van Eck Professor of Forest Biology and Associate Head of Extension at Purdue University and a principle scientist at the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center.For more information, show resources, and to connect with SilviCast visit the episode's website: https://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/RightTree,RightPlace,RightTime.aspx.  

A conversation with Ralph Nyland, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, who has conducted extensive applied research into even and uneven-aged silvicultural systems in northern hardwood forests for over 50 years. In this episode of SilviCast we explore with Ralph the challenges of implementing uneven-aged systems like single-tree selection, particularly when our second-growth, mostly even-aged northern hardwood forest don't always cooperate!To learn more, find show resources, or interact with SilviCast visit our website: https://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/TheGreenWall.aspx

Silviculture is all about managing forest vegetation, but sometimes that vegetation does not want to be managed! Whether that is controlling invasive shrubs like buckthorn, releasing seedlings from reed canary grass, or preventing the spread of garlic mustard, control over some "weeds" seems like an exercise in frustration. Enter forestry herbicides: the sometimes maligned, confusing, ever-changing, but often necessary tool in our silviculture toolbox. In this episode of SilviCast we will start to demystify the confusing world of forestry herbicides with two Lake States experts who have decades of practical field experience; Rick Schulte from Nutrien Solutions, and Lee Shambeau from 4-Control Inc.Visit our website for more information: https://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/Weed-Wizards-Demystifing-Forestry-Herbicides.aspx

Let's talk paper birch! There are few tree species that have such a rich and diverse relationship with the inhabitants of North America, being prized for food, medicine, transportation, fuel, lumber, pulpwood, shelter, and aesthetic beauty. Paper birch is an ecological opportunist, taking advantage of disturbances that expose mineral soil and allow its abundant, tiny seeds to take root. Still, in the Lake States at least, many birch stands are disappearing to the forces of succession and changing disturbance patterns. Today we talk with Colleen Matula, Wisconsin DNR Forest Ecologist and Silviculturist, and John Zasada, retired forest research scientist with the US Forest Service, about paper birch silviculture and how we can sustain this fascinating species.Guests: Colleen Matula and John Zasada

Foresters love terminology. In fact, foresters have a long history coining detailed words to describe their forest management, dating back to Germany where many terms were developed to describe regional silvicultural systems and methods. It's no wonder that as foresters we still come across silviculture terms that make us say "hmmm, what exactly does that mean." Today we are going to talk with Professor Tony D'Amato from the University of Vermont about one such term that we are hearing mentioned a lot these days… irregular shelterwood. This regeneration method is becoming popular in many forest types to develop diverse forest composition and structure. But how do we define and implement a method that is, well, irregular?Learn more and see the show notes on the episode's website: https://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/WFC/Pages/WFC/Research-and-Development/Its-OK-to-be-Irregular.aspx.