News

Looking for a forester to help with the vision you have for your woodlands?  You can use the Forestry Assistance Locator to find cooperating foresters or DNR service foresters for your county or view the current Directory of Foresters. Types of foresters listed in the directory include DNR Tax Law Specialists, DNR Foresters, Cooperating Foresters, & Certified Plan Writers.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has released the new tax rates for use in 2018 through 2022 for land in the Managed Forest Law (MFL). These new tax rates are effective January 1, 2018. The updated MFL tax rates saw an all around decrease. Open land entered before 2005 saw a decrease of 5¢ to $0.74 per acre. Closed land entered before 2005 dropped 12¢ to $1.75 per acre.

MADISON – Governor Scott Walker announced today that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources state forestry headquarters will be relocating to the DNR Rhinelander Service Center by the first of next year.

Contact(s): Todd Lanigan, DNR forest health specialist, 715-839-1632; Don Kissinger DNR urban forester, 715-359-5793 MADISON — Each year, a tree-killing fungal disease strikes and kills thousands of oak trees in Wisconsin’s forests, woodlots and urban areas. Oak wilt is common in southern and central Wisconsin and is becoming increasingly abundant in northern counties. It is difficult to control once the disease takes hold and prevention steps need to be taken to slow the spread.

Cave-dwelling bat populations in Wisconsin are rapidly declining due to a fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome.  Some species may soon be listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). In preparation for this listing, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is teaming up with the Michigan and Minnesota DNRs to develop a large-scale Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP).

The WI DNR Reforestation Program continues to purchase seed from private collectors. Over the years, our seedling demands have changed; thus, so does our need for seed.  In 2017, WI DNR will be purchasing seeds for the following species: american hazelnut, american plum, black cherry, bitternut hickory, black walnut, butternut, shagbark hickory, sugar (hard) maple, and the following oaks – bur, red, swamp white, white.

From: WI DNR Forestry News As part of the DNR Strategic Alignment, the Division of Forestry has consolidated the tax law programs (Managed Forest Law and Forest Crop Law) and associated work into fewer positions under a new Tax Law section.  This section will focus on the tax law programs, allowing us to better meet our customers’ needs.  Within the new section, six staff are located in Madison:  Tax Law Section Chief, Tax Law Administration Specialist, Tax…

According to the Center for Disease Control, there were roughly 28,500 confirmed cases of Lyme disease in 2015; but the actual number of cases may be 10 times greater. Lyme used to be confined to a few localized areas, particularly around Connecticut and the Northeast, but warmer winter temperatures and urban sprawl-which has reduced natural predators that kill tick-hosting rodents and deer-have caused populations to explode and spread across the country.

June 6, 2017              To: Stakeholders and Industries Associated with Hemlock The Michigan Department of  Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is implementing an interior state quarantine to protect Michigan’s native and cultivated hemlock populations from hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). HWA has not been found in Michigan until recently where it has been detected at multiple sites in four counties in western Michigan.

Contact(s): Owen Boyle, 608-576-2446; Paul White, 608-267-0813 Call goes out to report surviving bats this summer MADISON — A bat disease that has raced across the eastern U.S. and Canada , killing upwards of 7 million bats, is following the same pattern in Wisconsin, winter hibernacula surveys show.