CTPA Updates

Award of Merit and Arborist Citation Award Nomination for Annual Meeting

October 18, 2021 by CTPA Admin

The Connecticut Tree Protective Association regularly honors individuals who have made significant contributions to arboriculture and to the care and protection of Connecticut’s trees. These awards are given annually and presented at the Annual Meeting. The CTPA Board of Directors is requesting nominees for awards for the upcoming Annual Meeting join January 20, 2022 and encourages you to nominate someone whom you feel deserves special recognition.

Award Categories:

Award of Merit– This award is presented to a CTPA member who has shown exemplary professionalism and dedication and made outstanding contributions to the care and protection of Connecticut’s trees.
Arborist Citation– This award is presented to a non-member who has shown exemplary dedication to the care and protection of Connecticut’s trees.

If you know of someone that is deserving of either of these awards, please print out the nomination form and email (info@ctpa.org) or fax (203)793-7924 to the CTPA office.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, December 3, 2021.

The CT Urban Forest Council Offers a Grant Opportunity

September 13, 2021 by CTPA Admin

The following is from the CT Urban Forest Council:

The Connecticut Urban Forest Council (CUFC) is pleased to announce a new urban forestry grant opportunity. The Urban Forestry Climate Change Grant Program will provide funding, up to $37,000, to municipalities or non-profits for projects that use urban forestry to address the local effects of climate change and that also include equity and environmental justice as among the goals of the project.

Complete details are available on the CUFC website (https://cturbanforestcouncil.org/grants/climate-change-grants/). There will be two rounds of applications, with the first round due on November 3^rd. Also, stay tuned – CT DEEP will be making an official announcement regarding this and other urban forestry grant opportunities shortly.

Please feel free to spread the word regarding this CUFC grant opportunity. Questions regarding the CUFC urban forestry grant may be asked via the CUFC grant web page.

CAES Valley Lab Moves Its Centennial Celebration to September 10th

August 31, 2021 by CTPA Admin

Due to the heavy rain predicted for today and tomorrow and the wet conditions expected to last the remainder of the week, the CT Agricultural Experiment has decided to move its Centennial Celebration to next Friday, September 10th. It hopes this new date will allow many arborists, tree care workers and others to attend. The revised agenda for the September 10th meeting is now available.

There are ceu’s available for a range of pesticide licenses, including up to 4 ceu’s available for arborists. Also, there will be a brewery on-hand to help with the Centennial Celebration, following the late afternoon tour of the Valley Lab’s Hopyard.

No pre-registration needed – just plan on attending! The Valley Lab is located at 153 Cook Hill Road in Windsor, CT. There is no charge for attendance.

The Fall 2021 Arboriculture 101 Class

August 11, 2021 by CTPA Admin

Arboriculture 101 is CTPA’s well-regarded class series geared for those individuals who are seeking the CT Arborist License. The class series takes place over 13 weeks, for one night a week, with each class 3 hours in length. Further details regarding the course and what topics are covered are outlined on the Arboriculture 101 page on the CTPA website.

CTPA is announcing that it plans to hold the Fall 2021 session of Arboriculture 101 in-person, at the Jones Auditorium in New Haven. The Jones Auditorium is a part of the New Haven campus of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and is located at 123 Huntington Street.

This arrangement with CAES provides CTPA with a venue for holding the course that is larger than the classroom at CTPA’s facility in Wallingford. This is important, as it will allow for greater social distancing during the fall class session. CTPA is concerned about the ongoing situation regarding COVID and about the need to be careful when making decisions that might affect the health and safety of those individuals enrolled in Arboriculture 101 or who are the course instructors. CTPA is committed to following all applicable guidelines relating to the virus.

Among those guidelines is the mandate of the City of New Haven, effective as of August 10th, that masks are required in all public indoor facilities. As a result, CTPA will require that all fall Arboriculture 101 students wear masks while attending these classes. In addition to moving to a larger class space, class size will be limited to facilitate social distancing. CTPA will also provide hand sanitizer and otherwise do what it can to make the classroom a COVID safe place.

Because of this change in venue, adjustments may also have to be made to the class schedule. While CTPA aims to hold most classes on Wednesday evenings, it may have to move some classes to a Tuesday or a Thursday. A final class schedule will be made available before the start of class.

All of this planning is based on the current situation regarding COVID. However, the classes will run from September 1 to December 1. This means that the situation may change over the next few months. If the situation worsens, CTPA may have to switch from holding classes in-person to giving classes virtually, via Zoom. Students who sign up for the course should be aware that this is a possibility.

If a change to virtual presentations is required, students should feel assured that the same instructors will presenting the classes. The quality of each of the classes will remain as high as they have always been. While switching to on-line classes is not preferred, CTPA has gained considerable experience with teaching the classes via the internet and will always have as its goal maintaining the high standards now expected from this course.

There are a still few spaces currently available in this fall’s Arboriculture 101 course. To sign up, visit the Arboriculture 101 Registration page. or the view the current class flyer for further details. Please note that this post is intended as an update of the flyer, which was printed and distributed earlier this summer.

To sum up this message:
• Arboriculture 101 will be held this fall, at the CT Agricultural Experiment Station Jones Auditorium in New Haven. Classes will run from September 1 to December 1.
• Because of COVID, masks will be required of all students while in class. Social distancing must also be practiced during class. CTPA and CAES are committed to following the guidelines set by local and state authorities.
• If the situation with COVID worsen, we may be forced to switch from holding classes in-person to holding classes virtually.
• Full details, including as to how to register for the class, are on the CTPA website.

Happenings at the CT Agricultural Experiment Station – Two Upcoming Events

July 30, 2021 by CTPA Admin

The CT Agricultural Experiment Station is hosting two events that could be of interest to CTPA members. This coming Wednesday, on August 4^th, the Experiment Station is hosting its 111^th Annual Plant Science Day. This all-day event will be taking place at Lockwood Farm in Hamden, near Sleeping Giant State Park. There is no charge to attend and individuals may receive 3.25 pesticide credits towards any category of their pesticide license.

Full details, including the Plant Science Day Program, are available on the Station web page. Among the several talks to be given are an update on beech leaf disease, a discussion of deer in your garden, a presentation on container and raised beds gardening and a talk on industrial hemp. One of the highlights of Plant Science Day, however, is the opportunity to visit individually with the Station Scientists. Station researchers are on hand to describe directly, often through field demonstrations, what they have been up in their research and to answer questions regarding topics of interest to attendees.

Plant Science Day runs from 10 am to 4 pm. To obtain ceu’s, attendees must arrive and register by 10 am, with credit sheets to handed out at 3:30 pm. Otherwise, there is no need to register in advance – just come on out and plan to spend a few hours while enjoying the day!

The second event, to take place on Thursday, September 2^nd, is the 100^th Anniversary Celebration of the Experiment Station’s Valley Lab in Windsor. During this event, there will talks on boxwood blight and armored scales by Rich Cowles, updates on the biological control of hemlock woolly adelgid by Carole Cheah and on forest management by Jeff Ward, and on beech leaf disease and also a tour of the Valley Lab hopyard, led by Jim Lamondia. The day will include catered food, an overview of the history of the Tobacco Station, as the Valley Lab was originally known as, and the symbolic groundbreaking on the renovation of the Valley Lab’s main building.

This event will occur on the Valley Lab’s property in Windsor. The Valley Lab Centennial Program has been posted. Pesticide credits will also be available. Again, there is no charge. Further details will be announced as they become available.

Here is the link for further information on the Valley Lab.

Beech Leaf Disease – 2021 Update

June 16, 2021 by CTPA Admin

Please Note – this article updates an earlier post on Beech Leaf Disease, from June 22, 2020.

In a recent press release, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) reported that beech leaf disease has become much more widespread in the state, with an increasing number of findings coming in from a wider area. CAES is reporting that the range of symptoms associated with the disease are also increasing, perhaps due to the association with the dry weather from 2020.

Because of the current extent of beech leaf disease, CAES is not longer encouraging arborists or others to report citing of the disease to the Station.

For people who seek further information on beech leaf disease, CAES is referring people to the US Forest Service Pest Alert on Beech Leaf Disease. People might also review an article entitled An Overview of Beech Leaf Disease, written by Dr. Bob Marra and published in the October 2020 edition of the New England SAF newsletter.

The full CAES press release on Beech Leaf Disease, with pictures, may be downloaded. The text of the CAES press release is as follows:

Beech Leaf Disease Now Widespread in Connecticut

New Haven, CT – Scientists from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) have confirmed that Beech Leaf Disease (BLD), first detected in lower Fairfield County in 2019, is now widespread and prevalent on American beech (Fagus grandifolia) throughout Fairfield, New Haven, Middlesex, and New London Counties. It also appears to be spreading into Litchfield, Tolland, and Windham Counties, albeit less severely; to date there are no confirmed observations of BLD in Hartford County. This disease, which can kill trees within several years of detection, was first discovered in 2012 in Ohio, followed in subsequent years by detections in Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, Canada.

The symptoms on beech foliage, best observed from below looking up into the canopy, are characterized by dark striping between leaf veins, as pictured below (left). However, this year the symptoms are severe, and can include: aborted leaf enlargement; cupping, browning, and yellowing of foliage; branch and tip dieback; and in some cases, premature leaf drop. CAES and DEEP Forestry believe that 2020’s hot and dry summer, exacerbated by this year’s dry spring, are playing a role in the observed symptoms.

Beech leaf disease is caused by the foliar nematode, Litylenchus crenatae subsp. mccannii. The nematode appears to cause disease on only American, European, and Oriental beech (F. grandifolia, F. sylvatica, and F. orientalis). Scientists at CAES have joined forces with researchers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Ontario (Canada), and at USDA-ARS to study disease development, transmission, and control.

Research on control options, conducted in Ohio, have not been promising. However, treatments are being promoted by several tree-care companies, for which they claim some success. Property owners may wish to contact their arborist or tree warden about these options.

Given the already well-documented widespread occurrence of BLD in 2021, reports of BLD in Fairfield, New Haven, Middlesex, and New London Counties to CAES and DEEP are no longer requested.
###
Media Contact:

Dr. Robert E. Marra
Associate Scientist / Forest Pathologist
Department of Plant Pathology & Ecology
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Phone: 203-974-8508
E-mail: Robert.Marra@ct.gov

Summer Meeting 2021 Registration

June 11, 2021 by CTPA Admin

We are excited to open up registration for the Summer Meeting. This year it will be held on Thursday, July 15, 2021 at the Farmington Club in Farmington, CT from 8:00am to 4:30pm. We have a great line up of speakers with all the sessions being held outdoors, and good food. There will be exhibitors under the tent and in the field. Come spend the day!

Due to timing of mandates being lifted, the CEU’s are pending in all categories. We will update the website as the CEU’s are given for the summer meeting. Thank you for understanding.

On-Line Registration

PDF Registrations
(pdf)

(pdf)

2021 Summer Meeting

May 28, 2021 by CTPA Admin

The CTPA is excited to announce that the summer meeting will be held July 15, 2021 at the Farmington Club in Farmington, CT. Things are getting back to normal; although we are not completely there yet. For starters, all attendees will be asked to respect the COVID-19 guidelines set forth by the State of Connecticut and in place at the time of the summer meeting.

The board is working toward getting speakers and activities lined up and CEU’s in place. We ask for your continued patience in getting this information to you once it has been finalized.

The registration fee for this year’s meeting will be:

Members: $90.00 in advance and $115.00 walk-in registration.

Non-members: $100.00 in advance and $125.00 walk-in registration.

Those interested in a booth at the trade show should contact the CTPA office directly after June 7th by emailing cathy@cpta.org or calling (203)484-2512.

The board is conscientious of money and realizes that for some people the past couple of years have been difficult financially. While there has been no increase in membership dues for years, as a board we do need to make these increases in registration to help cover the costs of both the event and those of the association overall.

We look forward to rolling out the speaker and CEU information in the coming weeks and opening up registration very soon.

Wishing you a safe Memorial Day on Monday!

DEEP Licensing Exams and Business Registration Now on State E-Licensing System

May 25, 2021 by CTPA Admin

During CTPA’s virtual Annual Meeting, Diane Jorsey, DEEP’s Program Lead for the Pesticide Management Program, indicated that DEEP was in the process converting their certification and business registration programs to the statewide government e-licensing program. That conversion is now well underway, with the examination processes for the Arborist Licensing exam, other Pesticide Supervisory certifications and the Operator’s certification all now on-line. This is along with the Pesticide and Arborist Business Registrations, both new registrations and renewals.

To get to the e-licensing system, go to the e-licensing web site. Before you do, however, you might want to look through this post to get a few pointers. To help you with your specific questions, this page is broken up into several sections, as follows:

For Those Who Already Hold a Certification or License in the State and Want to Log on For the First Time
For Those of You Who Wish to Renew or Create A Pesticide or Arborist Business Registration
For Individuals with an Existing Commercial Pesticide Supervisory License Who Want to Add an Additional Pesticide License Category
For Those Taking the Arborist Licensing Exam, any other Pesticide Supervisory Exam or Operators Certification, for the First Time
The Testing Process
Final Note

For Those Who Already Hold a Certification or License in the State and Want to Log on For the First Time

If you already have a pesticide supervisory certification, operator certification or arborist license, or if you have another state credential included in the e-licensing system, you should already be registered in the system. If so, even if you have not logged onto the system from the e-licensing page previously, do not set up a new account. Do not hit the “Register” button.

Instead, on the left-hand side of the page, where it gives you the opportunity to enter your User ID and Password – hit “Forgot User ID”. This will lead to a prompt for you to enter your email address. Once you do that , further information about how to log in will to be sent to that address.

If the email address associated with your DEEP records is one that you have stopped using, you will need to contact DEEP directly to get them to send you a temporary User ID and Password. Once you have logged in, you can make all of the necessary changes to your account, including updating your email account information.

This is all covered in this overview put together by the State.

For Those of You Who Wish to Renew or Create A Pesticide or Arborist Business Registration

The business registration account is separate from your personal account. You cannot use the same User ID or email address for both accounts.

For those people who have existing Arborist or Pesticide Business Registration accounts, your User ID and passwords will be sent out by DEEP within a couple of weeks (by mid-June).

If you have not previously registered your arborist or pesticide business with DEEP, go to the e-licensing page and click on the “Register” link. The first option after that is to choose whether you are registering as an individual or as a business. Click on “business” and proceed from there.

For Individuals with an Existing Commercial Pesticide Supervisory License Who Want to Add an Additional Pesticide License Category

The way things are set up in the system, adding a category to an existing Commercial Pesticide Certificate is very different from adding a new license, such as a Home Improvement License or a Pesticide Operator’s Certificate. We’ll take them one at a time.

If you have, say, an Arborist License and wish to add an additional category, say an Ornamental and Turf or a Right-of-Way Certification, according to the system, you are adding a new category to an existing Commercial Pesticide Supervisory License. The place where you need to go on-line to start the process is not all that obvious.

To start the process, first, be sure you are logged onto your account. Then, either at the bottom of the page, under “More Online Services” or at the top right hand corner of the page, under “Online Services”, find the link for “License Maintenance” – it is under “Activities”. Click on that link. It will bring you to a page that will ask you to select which credential you wish to work on. One choice (depending upon how many state licenses you hold) will be referenced under “Board” as “Pesticide Management Program”. To the left of that it will say “Start”. Click on “Start”. At this point, you then be given two choices – “Add an Additional Pesticide Category” or “Upload your Annual Pesticide Use Summary”. Make your choice and hit “Next” at the bottom of the page.

On the next screen, you will be asked to “Select and add the Pesticide Certification Category(s) being requested as part of this application”. Below that, you will see an “Add” button. After you hit that button you will be given a drop-down list of pesticide categories to choose from. Choose the one you want and then follow the subsequent instructions to register with DEEP for the exam in this category.

At the end of this process, you will be asked to pay a fee of $200 to DEEP. This fee must be paid electronically. Once that fee is paid, DEEP will begin the approval of your application. This may take a day or two. Once that has occurred, DEEP will send your name and email address to the company that does the actual testing. You will be getting an email from that company. Please see The Testing Process, below.

If you wish to take an exam that is not within the Commercial Pesticide Supervisory License, you must start the process in a completely different place. For instance, if you want to add a Home Improvement Contractor’s License or a Junior Pesticide Operator’s Certificate to your list of qualifications, on the Welcome Page (the first page you see when you log on) you must go the section on “APPLICATION FOR A NEW LICENSE, PERMIT OR REGISTRATION” and, in that section, click on the link for “Initial Application”. On the next page, you will be given a list of choices, including “Home Contractor” and “Pesticide Management Program (DEEP)”. Click on the area that seems most likely to be associated with the license or permit you are seeking and then pick up the process from there.

For Those Taking the Arborist Licensing Exam, any other Pesticide Supervisory Exam or Operators Certification, for the First Time

If you are not registered within the e-licensing system, then you must begin by creating an account. When you first arrive at the e-licensing web site, you will see a section on the page titled “INITIAL APPLICATION”, with a “Register” link listed under it. Start there.

After you indicate that you are seeking to register as an individual, you will be prompted to answer many questions, including your name, address and contact information, as well as additional personal information to be used as an identifier. You will be asked, at some point, what exam you would like to take. For the Arborist License, keep in mind that, under the Pesticide Management system, the Arborist License is a Commercial Pesticide Supervisory License under the DEEP Pesticide Management Program. You will have to progress through a couple of layers to get to the Arborist License listing.

Also, during the course of establishing your credentials, you will be asked for the name of your employer or of the company for whom you will be working once you have your license. If you are not working in the tree care field presently and/or, once licensed, do not anticipate working for the company with whom you are presently employed, feel free to indicate that you are to be self-employed.

Eventually, you will have given the system all of the required information that is needed. The last step of the exam registration process is approving a payment of $200 to the DEEP. This payment must be in the form of a credit card, debit card or e-check. Once this part of the process is completed, DEEP will take a couple of days to review your information and, once it has been approved, DEEP will send your name and email address to the company that does the actual testing. Please see The Testing Process, next.

The Testing Process

Once DEEP has confirmed your registration, the agency will send your name and email address to Everblue, the company with whom DEEP has contracted. While Everblue gives the exam, DEEP has drawn up the questions – it is their exam. Once Everblue is notified by DEEP, it then sends an email back to you, as the applicant. You then must completely fill out the application that Everblue has sent to you and pay a $21 fee for the online service. Once that is done, Everblue will send you two emails. One will be a receipt for the $21 and the other will provide you with a link to the exam.

Once you receive the link to the exam, they can take the test at any time of your choosing, whether day or night. Please note, however, that you must complete the exam within 60 days. After 60 days your registration with Everblue expires and you will have to re-apply and re-pay the Everblue fees.

When you go online to take the exam, you must be at a computer that has a camera and microphone. Before you will be allowed to proceed with the exam, you will be required to show a photo ID and then rotate your computer or its camera to do a 360 degree scan of the room you are in. It is important that you follow all of the rules and stay on camera the whole time while taking the exam. You will have 3 hours for the arborist’s written exam, with no breaks. Be sure to plan accordingly.

The good news is that, once you complete the test, you will learn how well you did almost immediately. If you do not pass (think positive!), you can re-take the exam after 30 days. One interesting feature of this testing process is that the questions from various previous DEEP exams can be scrambled, from test to test, so that no two exams are now likely to be the same.

If you are signed up to take the Arborist Licensing Exam, passing the written test is just the first part. You will then be invited to take the next available Tree ID and Oral Exam. These are given 4 times a year, in June, September, December and March. You will be notified of the date and location once you pass the written exam. There is no additional charge for this next part of the testing process.

Final Note

This is clearly a lot of information that will not all be of interest to everyone. If you have any questions regarding any of the DEEP licensing exams, feel free to contact the DEEP directly.

And – good luck!

An Update on COVID, the Summer Meeting and Arboriculture 101

May 16, 2021 by CTPA Admin

In the wake of the CDC’s Guidance and the Governor’s lifting of COVID restrictions for vaccinated individuals, the CTPA has determined to go ahead with its annual Summer Meeting. This year’s Summer Meeting will be held on July 15th, at the Farmington Club in Farmington. This is our usual date (the 3rd Thursday in July). Details of the program are still being worked out.

The CTPA board is aware that there may be a mix of views surrounding this decision. We decided based primarily on the state regulations along with the input provided by the Farmington Club. As to how to hold the meeting, that discussion is still very active. We will likely try to schedule more outdoor activities to alleviate indoors crowding. We do plan to invite our vendors and have the trade show outdoors, as always. Stay tuned.

This goes somewhat without saying, but during the meeting we will request that people be aware of the current status of the pandemic and be respectful of the concerns of others. CTPA has always been a group of people who have appreciated and looked after one another. The return to the sharing and camaraderie is something that everyone is looking forward to. That opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet up with new ones will certainly be part of the Summer Meeting.

The Fall Session of Arboriculture 101, however, is in a different boat. As much as CTPA would like to hold those classes in person at the CTPA headquarters, the decision process is a bit more complicated. As of now, we are leaning towards holding the classes again via Zoom but are withholding a final decision until the situation with COVID clarifies.

Regardless, registration for the Fall Session is open. Part of the problem with Arboriculture 101 is the popularity of the class. This means that, when held in person with its standard complement of students, we have a classroom full of students, sitting right next to each other for 3 hours and that this goes on for 13 weeks. It just may be too soon for that.

We wish everyone all the best as the situation with the pandemic takes this positive turn. The Board of Directors of the CTPA is proud and pleased to take note of the patience, leadership and determination the membership has shown during this past year. Let’s see it through to the end!

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