Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative

1. Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative National S&PF Leadership Team May 6-7, 2008 Charlotte NC Presented by: Dr. Scott Josiah State Forester / Director Nebraska Forest Service

2. Overview: • Resource Concern • Programmatic Environment • Initiative Objectives • Initiative Accomplishment • Current and Future Needs

3. S&PF Redesign’s 3 National Themes: • Conserve working forest landscapes • Protect forests from harm • Enhance public benefits from trees & forests The Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative addresses all three themes

4. S&PR Redesign’s Guiding Principles: • Landscape–scale approach • Collaborative planning and implementation • Prioritization of outcomes • Innovative use of technology The Great Plains Tree and Forest Invasives Initiative utilizes all four of these guiding principles.

5. The Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative Project Components (over 2 years) 1. Comprehensive forest and tree resource assessment - Urban & community forests - Rural forests - Agroforests/linear forests 2. Education and outreach

6. The Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative 3. Monitoring and detection - Citizen monitoring and detection network - Campground education - Wood in transit education program 4. Marketing and utilization 5. State and regional planning 6. Geospatial mapping

7. . Need for the Great Plains Initiative? • Highest percentage of ash in rural & urban forests in the US • Ash resource at great risk to Emerald AshBorer (EAB) • Impacts worse than Dutch Elm Disease • Project structured to prepare for future invasives, not just EAB BEFORE AFTER

8. Resource at Risk: • Ash is one of the most popular species to plant • Represents 20 – 40% of many community forests • Over 50% in some northern Great Plains communities How do you manage the removal, disposal and replacement of 30% of your trees in 5 years?

9. Impact Example: • Lincoln, Nebraska • State capitol • 236,000 population • 83 sq. miles • Tree City USA 31 years • 640,000 trees total

10. City example cont . . . • Ash = 25% of all trees in Lincoln • 160,000 ash trees at $600 - $800 per tree for removal, disposal & replacement • City cost to remove, dispose & replace city owned ash trees = $20.8 million • Homeowner cost to remove, dispose & replant 128,000 private ash trees = $112 million • Loss of ecological services = $3.1 million/year • Total economic impact = $135.9 million • Wood volume (all ash)= 210,000 tons or 10 million cu ft (enough to heat and cool 1 million + sq. ft of campus buildings in the GP for 23 years)

11. Community impacts on a landscape level Dead & dying trees in communities & rural settings require removal & proper disposal Before Removal Direct impact on: - energy efficiencies - property values - lifespan of pavement and hard infrastructure After Removal Photos courtesy of Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources

12. Source: Ohio Dept of Natural Resources

13. Identified Locations: NOTE - these represent confirmed finds NOT extent of spread 2002 2005 2007 We really do not know the actual extent and spread of EAB at present

14. The North Central Great Plains: NE, KS, SD, ND . • 300,000 square miles • 5 million acres of forestland • 2,000 communities • 5.9 million people • Tens of thousands of farmstead & conservation tree plantings • - windbreaks • - riparian forest buffers

15. Phase One Activities: 2007- 2008 • Develop & conduct statistically valid regional inventories of rural agroforests, & urban & community forests • Identify education needs and existing resources, implement outreach program to targeted groups: • agency/extension personnel, campgrounds, fuelwood entrepreneurs, legislators & government leaders, general public, etc.

16. Phase One Activities: 2007- 2008 • Expand trapping programs • design & implement citizen monitoring program for early detection • Facilitate completion of individual states’ EAB response plans

17. Phase Two Activities: 2008-2009 • Conduct 2nd round of regional urban/agroforest inventories • Assemble FIA data for rural forests • Develop geospatial applications & products of all inventory & other data • Continue implementing targeted education & outreach programs • Maintain trapping programs, expand citizen monitoring program • Use inventory and geospatial data to identify and/or develop markets for ash wood • Integrate inventory data into state forest assessment & response plans • Develop Great Plains regional EAB response plan

18. GPI Accomplishments since 9/07 • Developed new, fast, low cost, statistically-valid inventory models for: • Agroforests & linear forests • Urban and community forests, enabling extensive analysis via the I-Tree suite of tools • Model protocols replicable nationally & internationally • Integrate FIA, agroforest & Urban Forest Effect Model (UFORE) for consolidated data analysis & geospatial products • Uses new and cutting edge technology - iPAQ pda units with drop down menus, LaserAce hypsometers, & Garmin GPS • 1,200 inventory plots to be measured this summer

19. GPI Accomplishments since 9/07 cont . . . • Developed citizen monitoring system for early detection • Institutional barriers broken down, fostering close working partnership among state forestry agencies, the USFS & other agencies • Created a model for institutional collaboration that focuses on rapid field implementation • Project innovations rapidly being adopted by other states. • Substantially enhanced state capacity to deal with invasives

20. Shared Responsibility via Committed Partnerships Region 2: - Susan Ford, S&PF U&CF, GPI member- Bob Cain, Forest Health, GPI memberRegion 4: - Margie Ewing, S&PF U&CF, GPI memberNorthern Research Station: - Mark Twery, NorthSTAR program- Kurt Gottscalk, Invasives Species program- Dave Nowak, Urban Forests Program- Chip Scott, Nat’l Inven. & Monit. Applic. Ctr.- James Blehm, Forest Inventory Analysis- Jay Solomakos, Forest Inventory Analysis- Katherine Johnson, Forest Inventory Analysis- Mary Miller, Forest Inventory Analysis Northeast Area: - Noel Schneeberger, Forest HealthNational Agroforestry Center: - Richard Straight, Lead Agroforester

21. Additional Partners: • State Forestry agencies • State Game and Parks agencies • Western Forestry Leadership Coalition • Council of Western State Foresters • Land Grant Universities • Arbor Day Foundation • Green Industry (arborists & nursery) • USDA APHIS • Soil & Water Conservation & Natural Resource Districts • State Departments of Agriculture • Universities and Extension • USDA NRCS • Community/City Agencies • Community Mayors and Civic Leaders • Community Tree Boards

22. Projected Benefits of the GPI: • Landscape-scale leveraged impacts • Lasting cooperation & coordination via new ways of working together • Durable, sustainable results • Cutting-edge technological adaptations to real world problems across landscapes • Readily transferable & replicable results, both nationally and internationally

23. Preserving State Resources Through Proactive Action • Substantially increased public awareness & capacity for quick action once EAB arrives • Advanced interagency planning – states prepared to act • Early detection through innovative & enhanced citizen monitoring, enabling community and individual action to “slow the spread”

24. GPI’s Proactive Action Will Save States $ • Early detection will help to keep infestations small. Smaller infestations are far cheaper to manage than larger infestations • Slower spread allows communities and states to spread out removal & replacement costs over time

25. GPI’s Proactive Action cont . . . • Consensus achieved within the green industry to reduce ash production & planting, leading to: • enhanced community forest & agroforest diversity • reduced community forest & agroforest vulnerability to future destructive invasives

26. GPI’s Proactive Action cont . . . • Data derived from the GPI will substantially enhance the quality of State Forest Resource Assessment, Response & Action Plans • GPI data will allow, for the first time, comprehensive state & regional economic analyses of urban & community forests & agroforest values, & of the ecological services they provide

27. Questions? Dr. Scott Josiah State Forester & Director Nebraska Forest Service 402-472-1467 SJosiah2@unl.edu www.nfs.unl.edu The University of Nebraska–Lincoln does not discriminate based on gender, age, disability, race, color, religion, marital status, veteran’s status, national or ethnic origin or sexual orientation.