Get Caught Up on your Woodland Wildlife Wednesdays!
It’s been an eventful last few months for our Woodland Wildlife Wednesday webinar series. If you haven't joined us this fall, you missed out on a lot of great information and discussion.
The September webinar featured Jake McPherson and Chase Colmorgen of Ducks Unlimited. Their “Ecology and Management of the Wood Duck” covered the species’ needs and ways that interested individuals can help preserve wood duck habitat, including available cost share programs.
In October, Matt Whitbeck from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Chesapeake Marshlands Refuge Complex, discussed “Sea Level Rise, Ghost Forests, and the Future of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge,” which touched on how Maryland’s coastlands are changing and potential ways forward.
The final webinar of the year was the “Maryland Forest Pest Update” for 2021. Heather Disque, of the Dept. of Agriculture/Forest Pest Management, shared updates on spotted lanternfly, emerald ash borer, and much more.
One Way to Deal with Spotted Lanternfly
Temple University’s Interactive Ecology lab’s YouTube page offers a way to remove spotted lanternfly adults without having to touch them and without chemicals. All you need is an empty water bottle. This hack takes advantage of the species, which despite its colorful wings, does not fly well, but instead leaps away from predators. Watch this water bottle hack here.
New Business Directory Online
As was mentioned in our last issue of Branching Out, the Woodland Stewardship Education program was planning a new directory to connect landowners with businesses that provide services to create, enhance, and maintain natural areas on private properties across Maryland. The Natural Area Management Services Providers Directory is now online and provides information on over a dozen categories of services. Landowners can choose from such categories as tree planting, invasive plant and vine control, and enhancing privacy and aesthetics. Businesses are also listed alphabetically.
To have your business listed, please visit https://go.umd.edu/GSP-directory and complete the form found at the “Submission Form” button. Each submission will be reviewed before being included in the directory.
Please note that the mention of, the visual representation, or the referred reference to a service or organization in this directory does not imply endorsement by the author or any of the partners. The exclusion does not imply a negative evaluation. Descriptions are provided by the supplier, and not verified or monitored by the University of Maryland Extension.
Maryland State Forest Tree Nursery Now Open for Orders
The John S. Ayton State Forest Tree Nursery is now open and accepting orders for the spring 2022 planting season. This year’s seedling selection catalog features more than 50 species, with a few different choices from last year. The nursery provides an excellent option for property owners wishing to plant native species on their property as part of a conservation project, for eventual lumber harvesting, and/or for cut Christmas tree purposes. For more information, visit the nursery’s website at https://nursery.dnr.maryland.gov/default.asp
