This page serves as an archive for all of our events in 2019. In the All Events section, in chronological order, you can download a single PDF of the event page and its agenda or other handout. Below the All Events section we have archived the individual webinars from our monthly webinar series.
Workshops, Field Days, and Symposia
Forestry and Wildlife Research Review
Lidar and Object-based Classification for Forest Management
Small UAS in Forestry and Land Management
Tribal Cultural Landscapes and Natural Resource Management
Forest Health Practical Management Options
Adaptive Silviculture in the Driftless Area
Superior National Forest Climate Change Pocket Guide
Remote Sensing Tools for Timber Sale Prep and Administration
An update on the health of Minnesota's forests
Date: Tuesday January 15, 2019 from noon-1pm
Speaker: Brian Schwingle, Forest Health Specialist, MN DNR
The Minnesota DNR Forest Health team’s aerial assessment over most of Minnesota’s forests revealed some surprising findings and some expected trends in 2018. Eastern larch beetle and spruce budworm remain two of the biggest forest pest problems, as measured in the amount of forest acreages they impacted. Northern white cedars have been affected by leaf miners, and emerald ash borer continues to advance across the state. Join us as Brian Schwingle with the MN DNR presents the status and trends in Minnesota's forest health in this webinar.
Webinar resources:
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Forest Health webpage
- Bur oak blight- new webpage
- Oak wilt- newly revised webpage
- Diagnosing Spruce Problems- newly revised
- Management for Emerald Ash Borer
Understanding Minnesota’s Changing Climate
Date: Tuesday February 12, 2019 from noon to 1pm central time
Speaker: Kenny Blumenfeld, MN State Climatology Office
Webinar resources:
- To download the slides from the webinar visit: http://climateapps.dnr.state.mn.us/Blumenfeld_pres_2019.pptx
- To provide feedback on the webinar visit: z.umn.edu/webinarfeedback
Structured Decision Making: An approach to solving problems in natural resources management
Date: March 19, 2019 from noon to 1pm
Speaker: Mike Larson, Supervisor & Decision Analyst, Forest Wildlife Research, MN DNR, Grand Rapids
Webinar Resources:
An update on invasive plants in Minnesota’s forests
Date: Tuesday April 16, 2019 from noon-1pm
Speaker: Monika Chandler, Noxious and Invasive Weeds Specialist, MN Department of Agriculture
Webinar resources:
- Minnesota Department of Agriculture Noxious and Invasive Weed Program
- University of Minnesota Extension buckthorn video series:
- Minnesota Department of Transportation Noxious Weeds book (PDF)
Understanding Treaty Rights and Obligations
Date: Tuesday May 21 from noon-1pm central
Speaker: Joseph Bauerkemper, Department of American Indian Studies, University of Minnesota Duluth
Treaty rights and obligations are simultaneously fundamentally important and significantly under-appreciated. When it comes down to it, treaty relationships between Indigenous nations and the United States form the basic structures through which governance takes place. This is particularly salient in the context of natural resource stewardship. This webinar will present and explore key concepts associated with treaty relations, consider the impacts of specific treaties on current forestry work in this region, and invite questions and conversation about the obligations and opportunities at hand.
Treaty Rights and the Chippewa National Forest
Date: Tuesday June 18, 2019 from noon-1pm
Speaker: Doug Thompson, US Forest Service
This webinar continues our series of workshops and webinars addressing Tribal culture, perspectives, and roles in natural resource management. The Chippewa has a unique historic and legal relationship with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Doug Thompson, Tribal Relations Specialist with the US Forest Service, will discuss this relationship and how treaty rights apply to the Chippewa National Forest.
Oak Wilt: Biology, Distribution, and Management Approaches
Date: Tuesday July 16, 2019 from noon-1pm central
Speakers: Jennifer Juzwik, USFS-NRS, Laura Reuling, UMN-Forest Resources, and Ben Walker, Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest
Oak wilt is an important disease affecting primarily red oaks throughout the region. Recent apparent range expansion to the north and west has caused concern among foresters in recent years. A variety of treatment options are available to manage oak wilt outbreaks in forested settings. At this webinar we’ll hear first from Jenny Juzwik, a research pathologist with the USFS Northern Research Station on the state of knowledge about oak wilt in Minnesota. We’ll then hear from Laura Reuling of the UMN Department of Forest Resources (formerly of Wisconsin DNR) and Ben Walker of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest about forest-based treatment options they have tested and described on the Great Lakes Silviculture Library.
Understanding family forest landowners in the Lake States
Date: Tuesday August 20, 2019 from noon-1pm central
Speaker: Stephanie Snyder, USDA Forest Service-Northern Research Station
Across the United States, family forest landowners control more forests than any other ownership group. This is particularly evident in the Lake States where family forest landowners own and make decisions on approximately 25 million acres of forests. The activities and reasons for owning forests range considerably across this ownership group, from forest owners that are actively engaged in the management of their woods to those that conduct little if any management. This webinar will discuss findings from the National Woodland Owner Survey and explore key behaviors and demographics about this important ownership group in the Lake States.
On-the-job Experimentation: How to Learn More from Your Daily Woods Work
Date: Thursday September 19, 2019 from noon-1pm central
Speaker: Eli Sagor, UMN-Cloquet Forestry Center
Every silviculture treatment is an experiment. But in complex systems like forests, it can be hard to know with confidence what factors drove the outcomes you observed. Not knowing limits your ability to achieve, or avoid, those outcomes next time around. We'll review a few basic principles you can use in your daily work to grow the confidence with which you interpret the outcomes of your work. Ideas like formulating specific questions, using replication, including control treatments and (very) basic structured analysis can all help accelerate learning and continuous improvement in your work.
Expanded Climate Adaptation Resources from NIACS
Date: Tuesday October 15, 2019 from noon-1pm Central
Speakers: Stephen Handler and Danielle Shannon, USDA NIACS
Climate change presents new challenges for land owners and natural resource managers interested in sustaining healthy forested ecosystems over the long term. The Northern Institute of Applied Science has led the development of climate adaptation strategies and approaches to help natural resource professionals respond to site-specific vulnerabilities. These approaches have been designed for a variety of natural resource topics, which can be used with the NIACS Adaptation Workbook. This webinar will describe some of the adaptation strategies and approaches that are currently available and applicable to – urban forests, forested watersheds, wildlife management and tribal perspectives. Land managers can use these resources to select appropriate actions based on their unique project location and goals.
All-lands Forest Stand Mapping
Date: Tuesday November 19, 2019 from noon-1pm central
Speaker: Chris Beal, Superior National Forest
A major obstacle to effective landscape-scale vegetation management across multiple ownerships is acquiring and utilizing all the datasets relevant to a large project area. To address this issue, the Superior National Forest and The Nature Conservancy have been developing a repeatable workflow that synthesizes existing GIS datasets into a seamless, generalized stand layer for the forested regions of Minnesota. In this webinar, I will provide an overview of our approach, share the latest results of this effort, and discuss how these products might help land managers describe the existing condition of forests and identify restoration needs within a large project area.
Ruffed grouse and forest management
Date: Tuesday December 17, 2019 from noon-1pm central
Speaker: Jon Steigerwaldt, Ruffed Grouse Society
Ruffed grouse are an important game species that rely on healthy forest habitat to thrive. Managing forests for ruffed grouse also provides habitat for other wildlife species associated with early successional forests, including deer and woodcock. Despite their popularity, ruffed grouse populations are facing a number of challenges including West Nile virus and habitat. This webinar will discuss recent trends of ruffed grouse populations in Wisconsin and the Lake States and how forest management practices are integrated with the success of this popular game species.