Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

It’s Time to Reauthorize Wisconsin’s Stewardship Program

In 1989, Governor Tommy Thompson and the Wisconsin legislature created the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program to preserve valuable natural areas and wildlife habitat, protect water quality and fisheries, and expand the opportunities for outdoor recreation. Normally, the Stewardship Program is on a 10-year cycle, but it was only budgeted for three years until 2022. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) has recommended that Governor Evers’ next biennial budget include 10-year reauthorization of the program through 2031. The Nature Conservancy was deeply involved in crafting this recommendation and will work with the governor, state legislators of both parties, and the WDNR to ensure that this recommendation is adopted in the next state budget.

We have time to get a coalition of partners from other conservation, hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation groups to increase funding for the program, and reauthorize it for a longer period of time.

What Does the Stewardship Program Do?

One of the projects that was helped by the Stewardship Funds. This is the Guckenberg-Sturm Marsh on Little Lake Butte des Morts. Photo taken by Donna VanBuecken.

More than 90 percent of Wisconsinites recognize the importance of reauthorizing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program to protect our state’s lands, waters, and wildlife, fight climate change with natural solutions, maintain our mental and physical well-being, and grow our outdoor recreation and local economies. (The Nature Conservancy)

  • Clean Water — Protecting the forests, wetlands and grasslands that filter out pollutants in runoff before they reach our lakes, rivers, and groundwater.
  • Groundwater Protection — Protecting the lands that are essential to replenish the groundwater is critical to ensure a consistent supply of clean, safe water.
  • Flood Protection — Protecting grasslands, wetlands, and forests along rivers upstream to store water and help reduce the risk of severe flooding downstream.
  • Recreation Economy — Protecting hundreds of thousands of acres of land and hundreds of river miles for hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, and other types of recreation.
  • Urban Outdoor Opportunities — Providing outdoor opportunities near home for all Wisconsin residents, including more trails and parks for those living in cities and surrounding urban areas.
  • Wildlife Habitat — Protecting large blocks of wetlands, forest, and prairie for birds, waterfowl, pollinators, bats, small and large mammals, and other rare, protected, and endangered species to roam.
  • Working Lands — Protecting working forest, prairie, and rivers in Wisconsin, along with the jobs and products they provide.

Nonpartisan Program

The Stewardship Fund is a nonpartisan program. It was named after former governors Warren Knowles, a Republican, and Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat. It’s the right thing to do for Wisconsin’s land, water, and wildlife. We have to make sure our lawmakers know how important land and water protection is for our state.

Write the legislature today.

Please let them know what you think about it.

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Sudden Oak Death – Phytophthora ramorum

The subject of this post is a bit late, but I wanted to get the info out to everyone so you can be prepared. Wisconsin state plant health officials are advising consumers who bought rhododendrons or azaleas this spring and summer to be on the lookout for signs of a fungus that could spread to oaks and kill them. It is called Phytophthora ramorum or P. ramorum or Sudden Oak Death, and it was found in one Northern Wisconsin nursery.

This fungus causes Sudden Oak Death, which has never been found on the landscape in Wisconsin. There is no human health risk. Brian Kuhn, director of WIDATCP’s* Plant Industry Bureau said “These plants entered Wisconsin legally, with the proper documentation, and all the businesses involved have cooperated with us.” Susceptible plants at the supplier and the nursery have been destroyed and owners are disinfecting soil and equipment.

Nevertheless, DATCP has imposed an external quarantine on items that could carry P. ramorum. A list of plants covered by the Quarantine can be found at Quarantine.

Serious Issue

Rhododendron leaves showing Phytophthora ramorum damage. Photo courtesy of WIDATCP

Consumers should look for leaf and shoot dieback as potential symptoms. Suspect plants should be sent the University of Wisconsin – Madison Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic. There is no cost. For information about how to submit a sample, visit Plant Disease Diagnostics Clinic.

Please note sudden oak death is not the same disease as Oak Wilt or Oak Anthracnose, which exists in much of Wisconsin. Information about Oak Wilt is available on the Department of Natural Resources website. Information about Oak Anthracnose is available on the University of Wisconsin-Extension website.

Although the disease may not necessarily kill rhododendrons and azaleas, it could be transmitted to as many as 100 different plant species, including hardwoods, softwoods and shrubs. Oaks are at the greatest risk, because P. ramorum is incurable and has killed 30-45 million oaks in California and Oregon. Spores from the disease can travel in plants; soil, gravel and potting mixes; and wind-blown rain and other water sources. Contaminated pots, shovels and other equipment could also transmit the disease unless sterilized with bleach.

Maryann Whitman, who was Editor of the Wild Ones Journal March April 2005, wrote a good piece entitled It’s All One Piece: The Unraveling of an Ecosystem: Sudden Oak Death Affects More Than the Oaks. It touches on the problems encountered with trying to control diseases such as Phytophthora ramorum.

See also Pathogen That Causes Tree-Killing Disease Found in Illinois for more info about the nursery sources for the plants with this fungus.

*WIDATCP stands for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

The above information was taken in part from WIDATCP press release entitled Bought Rhododendrons or Azaleas This Season? Check for Disease, Plant Health Officials Caution.

 

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2019 Fall Colors

Reference my post Why the Colors of Fall. This year here in East Central Wisconsin one can really see a difference in the colors of fall. The wet year we’ve had has produced variations in leaf color and the recent mild temperatures have slowed the change. But if you look closely, here and there you’ll find some bright oranges and beautiful golden yellows.

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Bat Week 2019

Bat Week Poster courtesy of Jane Simkins and Natural Heritage Conservation WDNR

Bat Week 2019 will be October 24 thru 31. Although most people know them through the scary stories told about them during Halloween, bats are really our friends. See Bats – the forgotten pollinators.

According to the WDNR*, there are great reasons to celebrate bats:

  • Bats are an important part of our ecosystems and provide Wisconsin farmers up to $1.5 billion in natural pest control every year, according to USGS research.
  • Wisconsin bats consume 17 distinct types of mosquitoes, 9 of which are known to carry West Nile Virus, according to recent UW-Madison research into bat diets.

If there’s an event being held in your area celebrating bats, let me know and I’ll add it to this post.

See the BatWeek website hosted by Bat Conservation International Inc for more information.

Also see Bat Week 2018 for more facts and photos.

*WDNR stands for Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

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