Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Great Plains Tree & Forest
Invasives Initiative
National S&PF
Leadership Team
May 6-7, 2008
Charlotte NC
Presented by:
Dr. Scott Josiah
State Forester / Director
Nebraska Forest Service
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Overview:
 Resource Concern
 Programmatic Environment
 Initiative Objectives
 Initiative Accomplishment
 Current and Future Needs
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
S&PF Redesign’s 3 National Themes:
1. Conserve
working forest
landscapes
2. Protect forests
from harm
3. Enhance public
benefits from
trees & forests
The Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
addresses all three themes
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
S&PR Redesign’s Guiding Principles:
1. Landscape–scale
approach
2. Collaborative planning
and implementation
3. Prioritization of
outcomes
4. Innovative use of
technology
The Great Plains Tree and Forest Invasives Initiative
utilizes all four of these guiding principles.
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
The Great Plains Tree & Forest
Invasives Initiative
Project Components (over 2 years)
1. Comprehensive forest and tree
resource assessment
- Urban & community forests
- Rural forests
- Agroforests/linear forests
2. Education and outreach
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
The Great Plains Tree & Forest
Invasives Initiative
3. Monitoring and detection
- Citizen monitoring and
detection network
- Campground education
- Wood in transit
education program
4. Marketing and utilization
5. State and regional
planning
6. Geospatial mapping
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Need for the Great Plains Initiative?
 Highest percentage of
ash in rural & urban
forests in the US
 Ash resource at great
risk to Emerald Ash
Borer (EAB)
.
 Impacts worse than
Dutch Elm Disease
 Project structured to
prepare for future
invasives, not just
EAB
BEFORE
AFTER
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Resource at Risk:
 Ash is one of the
most popular
species to plant
 Represents 20 –
40% of many
community forests
 Over 50% in some
northern Great
Plains
communities
How do you manage the removal, disposal and
replacement of 30% of your trees in 5 years?
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Impact Example:

Lincoln, Nebraska
 State capitol
 236,000 population
 83 sq. miles
 Tree City USA 31
years
 640,000 trees total
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
City example
cont . . .
 Ash = 25% of all trees in Lincoln
 160,000 ash trees at $600 - $800 per
tree for removal, disposal &
replacement
 City cost to remove, dispose & replace
city owned ash trees = $20.8 million
 Homeowner cost to remove, dispose &
replant 128,000 private ash trees = $112
million
 Loss of ecological services = $3.1
million/year
 Total economic impact = $135.9 million
 Wood volume (all ash) = 210,000 tons
or 10 million cu ft (enough to heat and
cool 1 million + sq. ft of campus
buildings in the GP for 23 years)
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Community impacts on a
landscape level
Dead & dying trees in
communities & rural
settings require removal &
proper disposal
Before Removal
Direct impact on:
- energy efficiencies
- property values
- lifespan of pavement and
hard infrastructure
Photos courtesy of Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources
After Removal
Source: Ohio Dept of Natural Resources
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Identified Locations:
NOTE - these represent
confirmed finds NOT
extent of spread
2002
2005
2007
We really do not know the
actual extent and spread
of EAB at present
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
The North Central Great Plains:
NE, KS, SD, ND
• 300,000 square miles
• 5 million acres of
forestland
• 2,000 communities
.
• 5.9 million people
• Tens of thousands of
farmstead & conservation
tree plantings
- windbreaks
- riparian forest buffers
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Phase One Activities: 2007- 2008
 Develop & conduct statistically
valid regional inventories of
rural agroforests, & urban &
community forests
 Identify education needs and
existing resources, implement
outreach program to targeted
groups:
 agency/extension personnel,
campgrounds, fuelwood
entrepreneurs, legislators &
government leaders, general
public, etc.
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Phase One Activities: 2007- 2008
 Expand trapping programs
 design & implement citizen
monitoring program for
early detection
 Facilitate completion of
individual states’ EAB
response plans
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Phase Two Activities: 2008-2009
 Conduct 2nd round of regional
urban/agroforest inventories
 Assemble FIA data for rural forests
 Develop geospatial applications &
products of all inventory & other data
 Continue implementing targeted
education & outreach programs
 Maintain trapping programs, expand
citizen monitoring program
 Use inventory and geospatial data to
identify and/or develop markets for ash
wood
 Integrate inventory data into state forest
assessment & response plans
 Develop Great Plains regional EAB
response plan
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
GPI Accomplishments since 9/07
 Developed new, fast, low cost,
statistically-valid inventory models for:
 Agroforests & linear forests
 Urban and community forests,
enabling extensive analysis via the ITree suite of tools
 Model protocols replicable nationally &
internationally
 Integrate FIA, agroforest & Urban
Forest Effect Model (UFORE) for
consolidated data analysis &
geospatial products
 Uses new and cutting edge technology
- iPAQ pda units with drop down
menus, LaserAce hypsometers, &
Garmin GPS
 1,200 inventory plots to be measured
this summer
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
GPI Accomplishments since 9/07
 Developed citizen monitoring
system for early detection
 Institutional barriers broken
down, fostering close working
partnership among state
forestry agencies, the USFS &
other agencies
 Created a model for
institutional collaboration that
focuses on rapid field
implementation
 Project innovations rapidly
being adopted by other states.
 Substantially enhanced state
capacity to deal with invasives
cont . . .
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Shared Responsibility via Committed
Partnerships
Region 2:
- Susan Ford, S&PF U&CF, GPI member
- Bob Cain, Forest Health, GPI member
Region 4:
- Margie Ewing, S&PF U&CF, GPI member
Northern Research Station:
- Mark Twery, NorthSTAR program
- Kurt Gottscalk, Invasives Species program
- Dave Nowak, Urban Forests Program
- Chip Scott, Nat’l Inven. & Monit. Applic. Ctr.
- James Blehm, Forest Inventory Analysis
- Jay Solomakos, Forest Inventory Analysis
- Katherine Johnson, Forest Inventory Analysis
- Mary Miller, Forest Inventory Analysis
Northeast Area:
- Noel Schneeberger, Forest Health
National Agroforestry Center:
- Richard Straight, Lead Agroforester
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Additional Partners:
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State Forestry agencies
State Game and Parks agencies
Western Forestry Leadership Coalition
Council of Western State Foresters
Land Grant Universities
Arbor Day Foundation
Green Industry (arborists & nursery)
USDA APHIS
Soil & Water Conservation & Natural
Resource Districts
State Departments of Agriculture
Universities and Extension
USDA NRCS
Community/City Agencies
Community Mayors and Civic Leaders
Community Tree Boards
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Projected Benefits of the GPI:
 Landscape-scale leveraged
impacts
 Lasting cooperation &
coordination via new ways of
working together
 Durable, sustainable results
 Cutting-edge technological
adaptations to real world
problems across landscapes
 Readily transferable &
replicable results, both
nationally and internationally
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Preserving State Resources
Through Proactive Action
 Substantially increased
public awareness &
capacity for quick action
once EAB arrives
 Advanced interagency
planning – states prepared
to act
 Early detection through
innovative & enhanced
citizen monitoring,
enabling community and
individual action to “slow
the spread”
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
GPI’s Proactive Action Will
Save States $
 Early detection will help
to keep infestations
small. Smaller
infestations are far
cheaper to manage than
larger infestations
 Slower spread allows
communities and states
to spread out removal &
replacement costs over
time
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
GPI’s Proactive Action
cont . . .
 Consensus achieved within the
green industry to reduce ash
production & planting, leading to:
• enhanced community forest &
agroforest diversity
• reduced community forest &
agroforest vulnerability to
future destructive invasives
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
GPI’s Proactive Action
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Data derived from the GPI will
substantially enhance the
quality of State Forest
Resource Assessment,
Response & Action Plans
GPI data will allow, for the first
time, comprehensive state &
regional economic analyses of
urban & community forests &
agroforest values, & of the
ecological services they
provide
cont . . .
Great Plains Tree & Forest Invasives Initiative
Questions?
Dr. Scott Josiah
State Forester & Director
Nebraska Forest Service
402-472-1467
SJosiah2@unl.edu
www.nfs.unl.edu
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