Arbor Day in Marshfield: Part 1

About Arbor Day in Marshfield

A holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees, Arbor Day is celebrated throughout the United States and in countries throughout the world. Though Marshfield doesn’t observe Arbor Day until May, Wisconsin as a state celebrates the holiday on the last Friday of April.

In honor of Arbor Day, Focus will be sharing information about local trees, how to properly plant them, and how to protect them from EAB.

Just announced!: Marshfield Arbor Day Celebration will be held on May 4th at 1:00pm at Lincoln Elementary School. DNR Urban Forester Don Kissinger will help plant a tree, and will celebrate the importance of trees with roughly 50 3rd graders.  Each student will receive a white spruce grow plug to plant at their house with their family. Other attendees will be Mayor Chris Meyer, Street Superintendent Mike Winch, Jean Warp, and Tim Rasmussen.  

To start off, we’ve collected Tree Facts from the City of Marshfield:

City of Marshfield Tree Facts

• Inventoried trees in areas of “manicured” parks and along street Right of Ways (ROW) is 7130
• Top 5 Genus types
  • Malus genus (commonly referred as apple trees)
  • Acer genus (commonly referred as Maple)
  • Tilia genus (commonly referred as Basswood and Linden)
  • Frasinus genus (commonly referred as Ash)
  • Ulmas genus (commonly referred as Elm most of which are cultivars resistant to Dutch Elm Disease)
• 630 locations have been selected as possible planting sites along street ROW’s
  • These locations range from large, medium, and small tree sizes.
• Above and below ground utilities, vision triangles, and growth space is a part of the careful planning when picking the right tree for the right place.

Benefits of Public Trees

calculated through iTree Streets www.itreetools.org

• Marshfield receives $2.39 in benefit for every dollar budgeted for forestry.
• Nearly 6 million gallons of water is intercepted annually. (Equates to over 800 gallons per tree per year)
• Over $125,000 of energy benefits from reduced electrical and gas costs from shading in summer and slowing wind in winter
  

  Partnerships

• 2016 was the first year the City of Marshfield hired a seasonal first year student in Urban Forestry from Mid-state Technical College.
  • This partnership has opened the door to new opportunities into managing the urban forest.
  • The student, along with one full time employee, is a certified pesticide applicator, which allows flexibility when treating ash trees for EAB.
  • Also allows for experienced pruning, planting, and record keeping operations to occur throughout the construction season when previously those resources were limited.
  • The ongoing relationship with MSTC will hopefully be a growing commitment to the best management practices and field training for the City and the student.

• Friends of the Trail have been a leader in working with the City of Marshfield to reforest parks and trail areas and help to eradicate invasive species.
  • In 2017 the City of Marshfield and Friend of the Trails plan to reforest areas of Wildwood Station Trail by planting 390 seedlings of 14 different species.
  • They will vary from limited height at maturity-type, for powerline accommodation and private property screening, to unlimited height at maturity trees.