Dr. Ted Andreadis of the CT Agricultural Experiment Station giving an update at the Annual Meeting.
Registration for Exhibitors for the Annual Meeting taking place on January 21, 2016 is now available.
This year we are offering two size booths. 8’x10′ for $325.00 and 8’x8′ for $275.00. Please download and refer to the exhibitor flyer for details.
CTPA is seeking applicants for the 2016 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. Full details regarding the scholarship, including how to apply, are listed on the CTPA website. The due date for applications is November 28th. The names of the 2016 award winners will be announced at the 2016 Annual Meeting.
This is the 16th year in which CTPA has offered this scholarship, with 25 scholarships awarded since 2001.
If anyone has any questions, please contact the CTPA office (203-484-2512 or cathy@ctpa.org). Ken Bullard is the current Scholarship Chair.
2006 CTPA Arborist Scholarship Winners Ryan Roberts and Daniel Watkins, being announced by then-Scholarship Chair Don Parrott.
PLEASE NOTE – ALL THREE ANSI COMMUNICATION WORKSHOPS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED. WE REGRET ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY CAUSE.
CTPA Announces a series of workshops designed to help those who care for trees better understand communication and to communicate better with clients, 
crews and others involved in tree care. This is a 3 part series, open to arborists, tree wardens and tree workers of all sorts. Sessions will be held at the CT Agricultural Experiment Station’s Jones Auditorium in New Haven, with each session running from 9 am to 12 noon.
The Three Sessions are as follows:
Session 1 – October 8th: Using the ANSI Standards. (Session Cancelled) This session, to be lead by Dane Buell, Vice President of Tree Care Services for Brickman /ValleyCrest and Chair of the ASC A300 Committee, will cover what the ANSI standards are all about and how they can be used for, among other things, developing high quality job specifications.
Session 2 – November 19th: Documentation in Arboriculture. This session will be lead by Mary Ryan, lawyer and CT Licensed Arborist, and by Ken Almstead, CEO of Almstead Tree Care. In this session, issues relating to documentation will be discussed, include record-keeping such as required by CT DEEP.
Session 3 – December 3rd: Communicating with Clients / Communicating with Crews. Michael Schoeni, District Manager with SavATree, will lead this session, on communication in the field, with clients and with crews. A second speaker will be added shortly.
The registration fee for individual sessions is $45 for members and $55 for non-members. Members who wish to register for all 3 sessions will receive a special of price of $100 for all 3 sessions. Non-members who wish to take advantage of this price may join CTPA.
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:
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, 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 13th. 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 7 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.
Past President Jeff Ward at CTPA’s 2010 Annual Meeting.
Electrical Hazard Awareness Program (EHAP)
presents: an Electrical Hazard Awareness Program Workshop, Thursday, November 5, 2015.
This workshop will make attendees aware of the hazards all tree care workers face when they work around energized electrical conductors.
This is a one day workshop that includes lunch, a full day of instruction, the EHAP manual and workbook.
Register on-line or by mail by October 22, 2015.
Hands-on Night during the Winter 2015 class at Arboriculture 101.
Arboriculture 101 is a course given by the CTPA two times a year for those wishing to advance in the field of arboriculture and to prepare for the Connecticut Arborist License exam. It is given one night a week for thirteen weeks. Each class session is 3 hours in length.
The Fall 2015 session of Arboriculture 101 will begin on Wednesday, September 2 and will take place at CTPA HQ in Wallingford. Attendees must have registered in advance of the first class.
For additional details regarding the class, including how to register, please visit the Arboriculture 101 page.
A successful day of hunting for emerald ash borer larvae. Attendees will learn to identify what EAB looks like.
On September 3rd, CTPA will hold a workshop and field tour so that people can learn about the emerald ash borer (EAB). This workshop will take place in Durham and run from 8 am to 3 pm. Attendees should meet before 8 am at the Durham Fire House, 12 Main Street, Durham 06422
Arborists, tree wardens, foresters, forest practitioners, and all tree and landscape professionals are invited to attend, along with anyone with an interest in 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 go into the field to see the indicators of an emerald ash borer infestation and about the options available to protect ash trees from EAB.
Peeling the bark on an infested ash tree to reveal emerald ash borer larvae.
Chris Martin, CT State 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. Rich Cowles, also an Entomologist at the CT Agricultural Experiment Station, speaking on how EAB affects trees and the mechanisms by which pesticides protect ash trees from EAB
In addition, there will be a demonstration regarding the use of pesticides. Attendees will have an opportunity to peel the bark on infested trees and see directly the damage that EAB causes to ash trees. Attendees can expect to see live larvae and perhaps adult EAB.
It is requested that attendees register in advance. The cost of attending is $45 for CTPA members and $55 for non-members. Walk-ins may be restricted depending upon space.
CEU’s will be available for CT Licensed Arborist and those holding other CT Pesticide Supervisory licenses, ISA Certified Arborists and CT Forest Practitioners.
If you have any questions, please contact the CTPA office – cathy@ctpa.org or 203-484-2512.
Please Click Here to Register On-line.
To Pay by Check, Please Use this Form. (Form may need to be downloaded to become fillable)
The Winners from the 2015 CTPA Arbor Day Poster Contest have now been announced. The winning posters along with the names and schools of the winners can be viewed on the Poster Contest Web Page.
The Winners were honored at an Arbor Day tree planting ceremony held at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven.
Redbud planted at CAES with the help of the 2015 Arbor Day Poster Contest Winners.
Climbers, Judges, Volunteers, Family and Friends – CTCC 2015
The CT Tree Climbing Competition took place on Saturday, May 2 2015, at Ballantine Park in Southbury. It was a fun and exciting event, with a good turnout to cheer on the 21 climbers. The five preliminary events got the crowd going, as the climbers worked their way through the five trees selected for the competition. The top 4 climbers based on their scores in the preliminary events were then selected to participate in the Masters Challenge. The Master’s Challenge itself turned out to be one of the more competitive and exciting on record, with the top two climbers, Matt Reynolds and Kyle Donaldson, battling down to the wire. In the end, it came down to which climber was successfully able to pull his gear out of the tree.
Kyle Donaldson, as he completes the winning climb in the Masters Challenge
Congratulations to Kyle Donaldson, overall 2015 CTCC Champion, and to all the climbers, judges, volunteers and participants, who made this year’s competition again one to remember.
The Winners of each of the Preliminary Events:
The 4 Master Challengers:
I wanted to provide some information regarding a new insect now known to be in Connecticut – the Southern Pine Beetle (SPB for short). Expect more detailed information from Dr. Victoria Smith in the upcoming newsletter, but here is some background information to get you started.
SPB has long been a problem in the southeastern US, particularly for the softwood lumber industry. It is a native beetle that tends to lie low in small numbers until conditions are right and then mass-attack stands of trees – including loblolly and shortleaf pines, two of the more economically important southern pines. While it appears to prefer two and three needle pines, it is known to attack five needle pines.
Connecticut was put on alert for this beetle once it was found, first in NJ and then on Long Island. In those areas, its primary target has been pitch pines, which in Connecticut is the primary species in certain unique habitats that are of limited extent and so of special concern. Just last week, it was discovered in Wallingford, at a state park, and since then has been observed at numerous sites around the state. Mostly, the observations have been on Scotch pine and red pine, although it was found in a stand of pitch pine in North Haven. So, it is here.
I would say it is more of an ecological concern than a landscape concern, in that the impact on the unique habitats provided by pitch pine is what is at greater risk. Interestingly enough, the best management recommendation for both landscape trees and forest trees is to keep the trees healthy. A good recommendation for any forester or arborist.
Attached is a short summary by the Bartlett labs that has most of the pertinent information. Keep in mind that the article was written with a southern audience in mind. We don’t know yet, for instance, the number of generations the beetle will be able to sustain here CT.
Also attached is a short information piece, mainly for the pictures. Dr. Claire Rutledge of the CT Agricultural Experiment Station (and the CTPA board) is leading the work on this insect. Dr. Adriana Arango is also working with Claire investigating the nature of this infestation.
Right now, most of the attention is on figuring out where the insect is located. If you see the ‘popcorn’ on the trunk of pine trees such as shown in the pictures, please send an email to Claire letting her know where the trees are. Pictures help. The Experiment Station and the DEEP Forestry are currently working on recommendations as to what to do with these trees. At present, if you know of an infested tree and it is your responsibility to remove it, the best thing is to probably chip it up and remove the chips from site, particularly if there are other pines around. Do not move any whole wood with the bark on, as adults will be emerging later in the spring. If you wish to keep the wood, removing the bark and chipping or otherwise disposing of it (e.g. burning) would work, along with chipping or disposing of the top and branch wood of the tree.
As mentioned, more details will be in the CTPA newsletter shortly and on the website when it is uploaded.
DOWNLOAD >> About the Southern Pine Beetle
DOWNLOAD >> A quick overview of the Southern Pine Beetle
