MailChimp Archives - Page 20 of 21 - CTPA (Connecticut Tree Protective Association)

Looking for Help with Winter Moths

May 5, 2016 by

Joe Elkington, a researcher at UMass, is looking for assistance in finding populations of winter moth, Bruce spanworm or other geometrid moths in central and southwest Connecticut. His full email (sent to Katherine Dugas at the Experiment Station) is below. He would like to sample populations within the next two weeks and will come down to Connecticut to collect samples. Anyone who knows of a population of these moths and wishes to help should contact Joe directly, at elkinton@ent.umass.edu.

Joe’s email:

I am writing because we are interested in making collections from any
moderate to high density populations of winter moths, Bruce spanworm or
geometrids of any sort that you have in central or Southwest
Connecticut. I remember we trapped winter moths in Milford several
years ago but no outbreaks ever ensued. My student Hannah Broadley and I
would like to figure out why that is. We are collaborating on this
project with Nathan Havill of the U.S. Forest Service in Hamden. He has
developed DNA techniques that improve our ability to detect hybrids
between winter moth and Bruce spanworm. Hybridization may be one of the
factors that impede winter moth spread and prevent outbreaks. So we
would like to collect the caterpillars from this area if you know of any
populations where densities are high enough to collect. Please forward
this message to any contact or arborists who might help us out. We would
come to collect samples immediately. Time to collect would be any time over the
next two weeks or so. The field season passes quickly with these
geometrids. We seek sites with some evidence of leaf damage. At most
sites densities of Bruce spanworm, are too low to collect any at all.
Many thanks for your help.

Joe Elkington

CT Tree Climbing Competition Next Saturday

May 1, 2016 by

Just a reminder to everyone – Connecticut Tree Climbing Competition will be held next Saturday, May 7th, at Colt Park in Hartford.

For climbers and volunteers, the day starts early, at 7 am. For everyone else, we hope to get the competition rolling by about 8 am. There is already close to a full roster of competitors – 27 at this point – that will likely fill by the time the day begins on Saturday. It should be another great and exciting CTPA climbing competition.

There is no charge for attendance and parking is free. Attendees are only encouraged to bring their own food and refreshments, along with perhaps a blanket to sit on.

For those who have not yet attended a CTCC, it is well-worth the time spent. The preliminary competition begins in the morning and usually runs until the early afternoon. In the preliminary events, each of the climbers take at turn at each of the skill events:

Secured Footlock
Throwline Accuracy
Belayed Speed Climb
Work Climb
Aerial Rescue

Competitors are formed into groups. Throughout the preliminary events, each group circulates among the five events until all competitors have completed the circuit. At that point, the scores of the individual climbers totaled. The top three men and women climbers are then invited to participate in the Master’s Challenge.

Throughout the day, the skill, intelligence and athleticism of Connecticut’s tree care professionals, as well as those climbers from other states, is on display, as is their attention to safety, concern for the profession and respect for one another. The word ‘camaraderie’ is illustrated better at this event than at practically any other event one could mention. Climbers support climbers, and the attendees support climbers, in a way to shows a true passion for what tree climbing and tree care is all about.

It is a great thing to witness. You should check it out.

Legislative Update

May 1, 2016 by

This year’s session of the legislature is winding down, with the session ending on this Wednesday, May 4. There have been 3 bills that the CTPA board has been watching closely. Here is a quick update:

Bill 231 – An Act Concerning Pollinator Health – has already passed both the House and the Senate and is just awaiting the Governor’s signature. This bill includes several provisions regarding pollinators, including requirements regarding the establishment of model pollinator habitat and the creation, by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, of a Pollinator Advisory Committee. Perhaps of most interest to Connecticut’s arborists is that this bill makes the neonicotinoids restricted use pesticides. The bill defines the neonicotinoids as, “any pesticide that acts selectively on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of an organism, including clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and any other such pesticide that the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, after consultation with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, determines will result in the death of fifty per cent or more of a population of bees when two micrograms or less of such pesticide is applied to each bee within such population.”

The bill also prohibits the application of neonicotinoids to lindens and basswood trees.

Bill 5150 – An Act Concerning Tree Wardens’ Notices on Trees and Shrubs Prior to Removal, Tree Removal Along State Highways and Clean-up by Public Utility Corporations Following Certain Tree Removal – has gone through some interesting twists and turns before getting to where it is now. Originally, the bill contained some broad reaching language that, among other things, would have required tree wardens to post all trees and shrubs for which they have received a request for a permit to allow the pruning or removal of those trees before he or she could issue the permit. The bill also originally required DOT to submit a plan the legislature’s Environment Committee and DEEP before conducting any tree removal along state highways, and for utilities to remove any debris generated from utility requested tree removals or pruning that occurred within the utility protection zone.

That last section remains in the current bill. As for the first requirement, that has been changed substantially, until now it has become a requirement for utilities to inform the tree warden in each town as to where and when it plans to conduct tree removals and pruning over the following year, and for the towns to publish that information in electronic form.

The provision requiring DOT to notify the legislature and DEEP regarding its plans for tree removals was first removed from the bill, and then almost reinserted through an amendment just before the House voted last week. However, this amendment was withdrawn and the House voted 145-1 in favor of the bill, which has now gone to the Senate. Thes Senate must vote favorably by Wednesday for this bill to survive.

The final bill – Bill 5258, An Act Concerning a Property Owner’s Liability for the Expenses of Removing a Fallen Tree or Limb – is still alive but is lagging behind. That is not a hopeful sign when the session has so little time left. But there still is time for the bill to pass and, if so, be signed by the Governor.

Further updates will be forthcoming as the dust settles.

Interesting web site for CTPA members

April 24, 2016 by

Dr. Chris Luley, author of “Wood Decay Fungi Common to Urban Living Trees in the Northeast and Central United States“, has announced a new web site that may be of interest to CTPA members. The address for the web site is www.TreeRot.com.

The web site can be a very helpful tool to field arborists and others who wish to o identify a specific fungus based on its conk and also wish to gain some guidance as to the potential severity of the fungus in how it effects the structure and health of the tree. The website, which Dr. Luley is developing along with others, is still in the process of construction. However, it is already a very interesting place to visit for anyone with an interest in fungi, wood decay and trees.

Dr. Luley is looking for feedback and contributions to the site.

Request for Help in Finding Treated American Elms

March 16, 2016 by

Dr. Bob Marra, Research Plant Pathologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, has asked CTPA to post the following. He is asking arborists to help him locate American elms, to help him with a study on Dutch elm disease. Here is Bob’s request:

“My colleague at UMass, Dr. Nicholas Brazee, and I have initiated a project to study American elms that have been receiving regular injections to control Dutch elm disease (DED). Our goal is to nondestructively assess these trees for evidence of internal decay and xylem dysfunction, using sonic and electrical resistance tomography. We are both skilled in the use of this equipment, having used it for a separate study quantifying internal decay in northern hardwoods.

We are looking for American elms in southern New England (CT, MA, RI) that have been receiving trunk injections for control of DED, and for which records of injection history are available. We will also need approval by the trees’ owners. We would be happy to contact owners for approval or to leave that up to you. We’d also be happy to involve you and your colleagues in the process. We would make the data, which are generated in real-time, available to you and to the trees’ owners.

Additionally, for baseline data, we would like to tomograph some American elms that are both free of DED and which have not undergone trunk injections.

You need not contact me if you have already contacted Nick Brazee in response to a similar request he sent out recently.

The best way to respond to this request is to email me at Robert.Marra@ct.gov.”

To learn more about Bob’s research, visit his webpage on the CT Agricultural Experiment Station website. On that page, he has posted some images from both sonic and electrical impedance tomography that illustrate how these techniques can be used to assess internal decay in trees.

Arborist and the Law Workshop is Full

March 10, 2016 by

The Arborist and the Law Workshop scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, 2016

at Sessions Woods in Burlington, CT is not able to accept anymore registrations

or take walk-in registrations at the door.

Sad News: CTPA Announces the Passing of Mike LeBlanc

March 5, 2016 by

Mike LeBlanc, arborist and longtime CTPA member, passed away on February 27th, this past Saturday. This is very sad news to CTPA members, who knew Mike as a steadfast contributor to tree care, passionate about trees and about his profession, who was always willing to share this passion with his colleagues, with young people and with anyone interested in learning more about trees. His loss will be felt by many.

Mike was the owner of LeBlanc Arborists LLC. A visit to the company’s website shows Mike’s support for arboriculture, including his participation in a series of public workshops called “Tree Care 101”. Within CTPA, Mike was a regular at meetings and workshops, served a stint on the CTPA board and was a frequent volunteer at CT Tree Climbing Competitions. He had also been Tree Warden for the Town of East Granby, where he lived with his family.

A memorial service for Mike will be held on Saturday, March 5th at 2 pm at the Trinity Episcopal Church, 55 River Road in Collinsville. More on Mike’s life can be found in his obituary from the Hartford Courant.

Mike’s family has asked that donations in his honor be made to the CTPA Arborist Scholarship Fund. (See also a list of previous recipients of the Arborist Scholarship.)

Mike at the 2007 CTCC at Elizabeth Park in Hartford, where he had volunteered along with his bucket truck.

Update on Bill 5258

March 1, 2016 by

A public hearing on Bill 5258 will be held before the CT General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, March 2 at 1 pm. Here are details on the public hearing.

Full details on this bill, including the text of the bill and public hearing testimony, can be found on the bill’s web page.

Bill 5258 would establish a procedure by which one neighbor would be able to recover clean-up costs from a second neighbor should a tree from the second neighbor’s property fall onto the first neighbor’s property. Part of the process involves inspection of the tree by an arborist (as defined by Section 23-61a of the General Statutes). Presumably, this inspection would be paid for by the first neighbor.

This bill is very similar to a bill passed by the General Assembly in 2014 and then vetoed by the Governor. This is discussed in a letter from the bill’s sponsor discussing what has changed between that earlier bill and this one. This letter is included as part of the Public Hearing Testimony on the bill’s web page.

CT Climbing Competition – Colt Park in Hartford

February 25, 2016 by

This years Connecticut Tree Climbing Competition is at Colt Park in Hartford, CT.
This is an all day event that is open to the public.
If you are interested in being a competitive climber or a sponsor, please register on-line or
by mail.

If you are interested in being a volunteer, please call Bud Neal (203)577-8144 (cell)
or Cathy in the office (203)484-2512.

Legislative Update 2016

February 20, 2016 by

There are currently two bills in particular before the Connecticut General Assembly that may be of interest to arborists, tree wardens, tree workers and others involved with caring for trees.

The first bill, #5150, is entitled “AN ACT CONCERNING TREE WARDENS’ NOTICES ON TREES AND SHRUBS PRIOR TO REMOVAL, TREE REMOVAL ALONG STATE HIGHWAYS AND CLEAN-UP BY PUBLIC UTILITY CORPORATIONS FOLLOWING CERTAIN TREE REMOVAL.” The bill has four sections. The first section slightly re-words the posting language in CGS 23-59, the state statute that describes the tree warden’s duties. The second section would require that a tree warden post trees and shrubs under consideration before deciding upon a permit requested by a third party for the pruning or removal of trees or shrubs under the tree warden’s care and control (CGS 23-65). The third section places a reporting requirement, to the legislature and DEEP, on DOT regarding the removal of trees along state highways. The final section requires the utilities remove debris following roadside tree work.

The full bill can be read on the CGA website.

A public hearing on this bill is being held before the Environment Committee today, Friday, February 19. Extensive comments on this bill have already been posted on the CGA website.

The second bill is something of a recurring event, as it has also been raised in similar form in the two previous legislative sessions. This bill, #5258, is titled, “AN ACT CONCERNING A PROPERTY OWNER’S LIABILITY FOR THE EXPENSES OF REMOVING A FALLEN TREE OR LIMB” and will be heard before the Judiciary Committee, although no date has been set as of yet.

The 2014 version of this bill actually passed the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Malloy. It would establish requirements regarding financial liability for removal of a tree that falls from one private property onto another.

This bill may also be viewed on the CGA website.