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Arboriculture 101 Registration

November 9, 2016 by

Registration for the Winter 2017 Session of Arboriculture 101 is now open. This series of classes will begin with the first class on Wednesday, January 6. All attendees must register before the start of this class. Also, please note, this session of Arboriculture 101 tends to fill quickly. There is a limit to the number of students that can be accepted into the course.

Details are available through the and the Arboriculture 101 web page.

If anyone would like further information, they should contact the CTPA office by email or at 203-484-2512.

Invitation to Attend a Demonstration of Stormwise

October 30, 2016 by

Arborists and CTPA members are invited to a demonstration of Stormwise, to be held on Tuesday, November 15, from 1 – 4 in the afternoon. The demonstration will be held in Durham.

What is Stormwise? Stormwise is an innovative approach to managing roadside trees and forests involving techniques drawn from arboriculture and forestry, in order to make those trees and forests more windfirm and safe during storm events. The effort is primarily being led by researchers at the CT Agricultural Experiment Station and at UConn. Stormwise has drawn support from participants as diverse as Eversource and the CT Forest and Park Association.

There is no fee to attend the demonstration but pre-registration is required.

View the Poster.

For details and to register to attend.

3.0 ceu’s will be offered for arborists and forest pest supervisors, and for tree wardens. Foresters and forest product harvesters will be eligible for 1.0 ceu.

Arborist Scholarship Application

September 30, 2016 by

CTPA is seeking applicants for the 2017 Arborist Scholarship. This $2,000 scholarship is being offered to undergraduate students who are residents of Connecticut studying urban forestry or arboriculture. Students do not need to be attending college in Connecticut.

The Association plans to offer two scholarships this year. The due date for applications is November 29, 2016. The name(s) of the 2017 award winner(s) will be announced at the 2017 Annual Meeting.

Please click on the button to print out the application forms

Valerie Caron – 2016 Oscar P. Stone Scholarship Recipient and Past President Rich Mitchell

This is the 17th year in which CTPA has offered this scholarship, with 26 scholarships awarded since 2001.

If anyone has any questions, please contact the CTPA office (203-484-2512 or info@ctpa.org). Ken Bullard is the current Scholarship Chair.

The CTPA is Looking for Committee Volunteers

September 19, 2016 by

Connecticut Tree Climbing Competition
Colt Park, Hartford
May 7, 2016

The CTPA is looking for people that would like to donate time and energy to a committee. The Arbor Day and Climbing Competition committees are always in need of extra help. There are large and small assignments so even if you don’t have a lot of time, the smallest amount of donated time can make a big difference. Please email at info@ctpa.org or call the office at (203)484-2512 if you are interested.

The CTPA is Looking for new Board Member Candidates

September 19, 2016 by

2016-01-21 12.25.12 The board of CTPA is currently seeking candidates for board membership. We are looking for individuals who are committed to arboriculture and to advancing the care of trees in Connecticut; people who have a solid understanding of the goals of CTPA and who are willing to commit the time and effort needed to make CTPA better.

The people the board is looking for are those who can help plan the future of the Association and then work to make those plans come to life. The Association is continuously facing new challenges. Examples include:

Continue with the Go To The Top – Hire a Connecticut Arborist campaign.
With the upgrade of the website, someone is needed who can spearhead communications.
Over the past recent years, the Association has introduced several new annual events such as EHAP, the Climbing Competition, Arboriculture 101 and the Arbor Day celebration. Individuals are needed who can bring the same enthusiasm and dedication to these activities as did those who began them.
The Association will continue to hold its Summer and Annual meetings and otherwise provide service to its 750-plus membership, with the responsibility for keeping these activities going falling on to the Board.

No small order, but that is why CTPA is seeking the right people. To be a board member, an individual should plan on attending monthly board meetings as well as be able to donate on average a day’s worth of time per month to CTPA. Commitment is key. Board members are also expected to chair a CTPA committee by the end of their second year.

Individuals interested in being candidates should contact Rich Mitchell, Past President of CTPA (rich.mitchell@altec.com or 203-695-5581) or Chris Donnelly, CTPA Past President (cmdonnelly@aol.com or 203-927-3052), prior to October 11^th. Please be prepared to provide either Rich or Chris with a short bio and statement as to why you are interested in being on the board.

Alternatively, if you as a member know someone whom you feel would make a great board member, please pass the name of that person to either Chris or Rich. A current board member will contact this person to assess his or her interest in being on the board.

There is no monetary compensation for being on the CTPA Board of Directors – the reward comes in providing service to a highly-respected, highly-motivated association of individuals who are like-minded in their respect for trees and interest in trees and tree care. In just 6 short years, CTPA will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. Achieving that milestone will be testimony to the solid leadership the organization has received over the years. People who join the board now will also very likely be the ones who will help lead the Association into its second century.

FREE Nursery & Landscape Research Tour

September 1, 2016 by

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station is holding a free Nursery & Landscape Tour on September 15, 2016 at the Valley Laboratory, 153 Cook Hill Road in Windsor, CT. Registration begins at 8:30 am. There will be a walking tour followed by indoor talks. The day will adjourn at 1pm with 3.25 Pesticide Re-certification Credits being given.

Please click here to print out the agenda.

Emerald Ash Borer Workshop – Monroe

August 18, 2016 by

Is EAB a threat? Are you willing to bet your ash?

On September 22, 2016, The CTPA will hold a full day workshop and field tour on the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). This workshop will take place in Monroe and will run from 8 am to 3 pm.

Arborists, tree wardens foresters, forest practitioners, and all tree and landscape professionals are invited to attend, along with anyone with an interest in the health of our trees and forests. In the course of the day, attendees will learn about the biology of the insect and the means by which it attacks ash trees. They will also first hear about and then see in the field the indicators of an emerald ash borer infestation, and about the options available to protect ask trees from EAB.

Attendees should meet at the Monroe Fire House – Station #1, 18 Shelton Road (Rte 110), Monroe

The speakers include:

Chris Donnelly, CT State Urban Forester, speaking on the regulatory response to EAB

Dr. Claire Rutledge, Entomologist at the CT Agricultural Experiment Station, speaking on the biology of EAB.

Dr. Richard Cowles, Entomologist at the CT Agricultural Experiment Station, speaking on how EAB affects trees and the mechanisms by which pesticides protect ask trees from EAB.

There will be a field tour that will demonstrate the use of pesticides and visits to infested trees, to see directly the effect EAB has on these trees. Peeling stations will be set up so that people have a chance to see an emerald ash borer within a tree.

Attendees should register in advance with CTPA. The cost of attending is $45 for CTPA members and $55 for non-members. Monroe residence are invited to attend and a donation of $20 to cover lunch and refreshments is requested.

CEU’s :CT Arborist Lic. 3D/6, ISA /6, Forest Practicioner/2, TCIA CTSP/3.5, Tree Wardens Advanced Certified/6

If you have any questions, please call the office at (203)484-2512 or cathy@ctpa.org

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Two Articles Regarding the Emerald Ash Borer

July 15, 2016 by

Included are links to two articles regarding the emerald ash borer that arborists, tree workers and tree wardens should find useful.

The first article is entitled The Economics of Dying Ash Trees in Connecticut and was put together by Dr. Rich Cowles of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. This informal discussion piece reviews various strategies that municipalities might consider in the face of EAB. Essentially, the article suggests that the use of insecticides may be much more affordable for EAB control than people give them credit for, including in the municipal setting.. The article is intended to introduce the topic and not be a full exploration. It can be very helpful reading for anyone considering how to manage public ash trees within the State of Connecticut.

Dr. Cowles will be speaking at the CTPA Summer Meeting on Thursday, July 21. During this talk, he will reference ideas brought forward in this short article.

The second article, called Dead Ash Tree Removal? Think Twice!, is reprinted from the Summer 2016 edition of the CTPA newsletter and is written by Emmett Shutts of Shutts Tree Service. In this article, Emmett explores some of the safety concerns relating to ash trees that have been heavily infested or killed by the EAB. Research alongside of experience finds that these trees pose an increased and often unanticipated safety risk, especially to tree care workers charged with their removal. It is reprinted here in order to allow this article to be easily forwarded to others who might be interested.

Record Mortality for the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid During This Past Winter

July 13, 2016 by

As reported by Dr. Carole Cheah of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, the hemlock woolly adelgid population in Connecticut suffered its highest rate of mortality this past winter in 16 years of record-keeping. Along the shore, average mortality was nearly 95%, while it the northwest corner of the state, mortality approached 100%.

Dr. Cheah presents these observations, along with comparisons with the results of previous years, in a Station fact sheet entitled, “HWA Winter Mortality in Connecticut & Implications for Management and Control“. This fact sheet can be found through the publications page on the Station web site (www.ct.gov/caes), under fact sheets and then under pdf’s.

Dr. Cheah describes two factors as contributing to this record-breaking die-off. Primarily, it was the extreme cold that arrived as part of a mid-February polar vortex and that affected the whole state. Also, because the winter had been mild previous to this cold snap, there was little snow accumulation within the tree canopy, and so the insects had little protection from the cold. She also includes the observation that, again due to the previous mild weather, many of the insects that were killed were at a later stage in their development.

Throughout the fact sheet, Dr. Cheah takes note of the various management implications that arise from these observations.

In a related note, Dr. Kirby Stafford has updated the gypsy moth fact sheet to include information from this current year. This fact sheet is available on the CAES web site as well.

Dr. Cheah will be attending the CTPA Summer Meeting on Thursday, July 21, along with several other Station Scientists – so please, register to attend the meeting and come with your questions, your own observations regarding trees, insects and diseases, and also any samples you might wish to discuss with these researchers.

CTPA ‘Go to the Top’ Survey

July 10, 2016 by

The CTPA would like to hear from its members regarding the ‘Go to the Top’ campaign it initiated earlier this year. Using Survey Monkey software, we have put together a short survey that we invite you as a member to fill out. It should not take long – we figure less than 10 minutes. Through the survey, we are trying to do two things. We would like your feedback regarding the messages behind the Go to the Top campaign. Also, we are interested in hearing from you the extent to which you, as members, are willing to get involved in this campaign.

This post is just a follow-up of the email sent last week – it takes you to the exact same survey as linked in that email. The Public Relations Committee, led by Allan Fenner, has put a lot of time into this campaign and this survey, so your input is very much appreciated. We also look forward to learning a great deal. This will help us keep this campaign moving forward.

Please Click Here to Take the Survey

For those of you who may have lost track of the ‘Go to the Top’ campaign, we encourage you to take a look at this earlier post on the subject. Essentially, the purpose of the campaign is to reach out to the public, in order to help them recognize the value of the arborist license and the benefit, to them, of hiring a licensed arborist. We are still in the early stages, although we do have a logo and are pulling together a plan.

So, please help us by filling out the survey. We request that all responses be submitted by August 5th – but why wait?

Thank you.