april 23–30/2021 • v27i16
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Sustainability issue
the Power of Trees
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ECRWSS Postal Customer
PRST STD US Postage PAID Madison WI Permit No 1723
Days a large tree can supply oxygen for up to four people.
180 million
Americans who get their quality drinking water from forested watersheds.
The Power of Trees by DEBRA FITZGERALD debra.fitz@ppulse.com
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ater, sunshine, gravity, soil, biological diversity – these are all necessary to sustain life on Earth as we know it. Trees have their place in this pantheon of vital conditions and resources, but we also love them for their beauty and practical purposes. Surrounded as we are in Door County by a plentiful supply of woodlands and forests, we may take our trees for granted. In this year’s Sustainability Issue, we do not. We’ve taken the Power of Trees as our theme to honor within these pages the contributions trees make to our world. We spotlight efforts to multiply and manage their numbers. We consider how they contribute to everything from urban landscapes to economies to homeopathic remedies. We highlight those things that threaten trees and honor species that have lost their fights. We show you how to plant your own trees properly and offer a glimpse into their hidden lives of communication – yes, trees do talk to each other. Trees do so much more, of course. They inhale greenhouse gases and exhale the oxygen we breathe. They improve water quality, purify air, stabilize soil, provide jobs and supply us with building and paper products. They’re also vanishing. They cover about 30% of the planet, about half the estimate of what once covered the Earth. We lose them to farmland, toilet paper, timber and other human needs. Fires are also on the rise. We’re fortunate in Wisconsin. Forty-six percent of Wisconsin is still forested, 48% of Door County. The majority of Wisconsin’s original forests were lost to agriculture in the south, logging in the north. In the United States, only 5% of old-growth forests still exist – forests generally described as having stood untouched for 200 years or more. About 1% of Wisconsin’s forests are still classified as old growth. Some of those exist here in Door County, including at Toft Point in Baileys Harbor. Environmental sustainability means avoiding depletion of our natural resources. It means meeting our needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet theirs. We can’t make the sun shine or control gravity, but we can be good stewards of the natural resources that sustain us. Welcome to the Power of Trees. Art by Ryan Miller.
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Degrees (Fahrenheit) reduction that happens in a city where trees offer shading for area homes and streets, and where they can release water vapor at night through their leaves.
25
Percentage that an average household will reduce its heating and cooling energy consumption through carefully positioned trees.
1
Every one dollar Spent on planting and caring for a community tree yields benefits that are two to five times that investment. These benefits include cleaner air, lower energy costs, improved water quality and stormwater control, and increased property values.
Amount of fossil-fuel emissions global trees reduce annually.
20+
Percentage of the world’s oxygen produced in the Amazon rainforest.
1.5 billion
Dollars New York City spent to buy thousands of acres of upstate land to preserve the forested watershed that supplies New York City’s drinking water.
1
Years it takes for one acre of mature trees to absorb the amount of CO2 produced by a car driven 26,000 miles.
12
Percentage decrease in crime in some city neighborhoods that had a 10% increase in tree canopy.
by the
Numbers Source: Arborday.org
2 | SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE april 23–30/2021
editor Debra Fitzgerald content editor Myles Dannhausen Jr. lifestyle editor Andrew Kleidon copy editor Paula Apfelbach special issues editor Grace Johnson creative director Ryan Miller layout assistant Sharon Anderson artistic consultant Renee Puccini sales managers Jess Farley, Steve Grutzmacher writer, inside sales manager Vanessa McGowan courier The Paper Boy, LLC distribution experts Jeff Andersen, Chris Eckland, Steve Glabe, Todd Jahnke, Susie Vania, Jacob Wickman office manager Ben Pothast inside sales/assistant office manager Kait Shanks chief technology officer Nate Bell contributors Coggin Heeringa, Joe Heller, Myles Mellor, Dr. George L. Morris, Kevin Naze, Sophie Nelson, Jackson Parr, Craig Sterrett, Patty Williamson, Wisconsin Humane Society Door County Campus publisher David Eliot owners David Eliot and Myles Dannhausen Jr. founders David Eliot and Tom McKenzie
PENINSULA PULSE
Whether you hike in on public land or simply stand by the roadside and listen to water moving over gravel, spending time along the spring-fed, cedar-lined creeks that flow into Lake Michigan is a recipe for nature-based bliss. Photo by Kevin Naze.
WILD THINGS
Not All Classrooms Have Walls
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Get lost in the forest for healthy lessons
volume 27 issue 16 21,422 copies (16,868 mailed)
rees have always had a special place in my outdoor adventures. Long before using them as ambush sites in hopes of eventually serving wild game on a dinner plate, trees were for climbing so high that my mother – watching the last of her eight kids throw caution to the wind – might have needed a little something to help calm her nerves after my leap-of-faith return to the grass. Trees also provided shade from the hot, summer sun on solo fishing adventures to local creeks and lakes. They absorbed and deflected unwanted noise, and produced moist, oxygenated air to breathe. Although I didn’t know it at the time, the Japanese have called it shinrinyoku, or “forest bathing,” for decades. Combining a mindful tuning-in of the senses with spending time in nature, the practice was developed as a therapy for preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine during the 1980s. Researchers found that strolling through forests reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol, lowered blood pressure and increased the activity of disease-fighting white blood cells. Olivia Witthun, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) forestry specialist, agrees. She said exposure to trees and green environments reduces depression, anxiety and stress, and in doing so, it improves mental health, mood and life function. But there’s even more to it than that. Ever wonder why you feel so good after
The Peninsula Pulse, Door County’s resource for news, arts and entertainment, is published weekly by Peninsula Publishing & Distribution, Inc., 8142 Hwy 57, Baileys Harbor, WI 54202. The Peninsula Pulse accepts email submissions of letters to the editor and story ideas (letters@ppulse.com); press releases, happenings, gallery listings and photos (pr@ppulse.com); line classifieds (classifieds@ppulse.com); and legal notices (legals@ppulse.com). All submissions are due on Fridays at noon EXCEPT: letters, due Mondays at noon; classified ads, due Tuesdays at noon; and legal notices, due Wednesdays at 9:30 am. To order a subscription, please mail a check for $50 for third-class mail or for $125 for first-class mail (recommended for prompt delivery) to Peninsula Pulse, 8142 Hwy 57, Baileys Harbor, WI 54202. If you would like to advertise, please visit doorcountymarketing.com. All photos are submitted unless specific photo credits are included. © 2021 Peninsula Publishing & Distribution, Inc. All rights reserved. The Peninsula Pulse is a Peninsula Publishing & Distribution, Inc. company. Locally owned. Locally minded. Recheck it. Reread it. Reuse it.
by KEVIN NAZE
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a walk on the wild side? Scientists say it may be from breathing in volatile organic compounds called phytoncides: the “essential oils” emitted by trees and plants. Cedars and pines – species we have in abundance here – are among the most potent producers. Hunters, anglers, birders and other forest-recreation users have long known about the benefits of a walk in the woods, even if they didn’t have a clue about the science. Trees clean the air and help clean drinking water for millions of Americans. They also provide valuable cover and food for wildlife: One mature oak can drop up to 10,000 acorns in a mast year. Most are gobbled up by birds and mammals, but every so often, one germinates and begins a journey that could last hundreds of years and reach nearly 100 feet into the sky. Trees slow and filter rainwater and can protect groundwater and soil around rivers, lakes and streams. A large one can pull about 100 gallons of water out of the ground and discharge it into the air in a single day. Trees beautify our properties, and some produce delicious fruit to eat, or sap that can be made into sugary-sweet syrup. They also provide wood that can be used for warmth or cooking in a campfire, fireplace or wood stove; or cut into lumber to build homes, furniture and boats. Wisconsin has more than 17 million acres of forested land, nearly a third of it owned and sustainably managed by county, state and federal governments. Most of the rest is owned by about 391,000 individuals and families, and many earn cash from selective timber harvests. Wisconsin’s 1,200-plus forest-product companies contribute more than $24
billion to the state economy each year, providing more than 63,000 jobs as they produce writing and tissue paper, lumber, food packaging and dozens of other items. Think the TP shortage during the early days of COVID-19 was bad? Imagine what would have happened if Wisconsin hadn’t been No. 1 in the country in papermaking for more than 60 years! Not all the news is good, however. During a County Deer Advisory Council meeting in March, DNR forester Jake Schroeder said data show high deer numbers equal low regeneration of young trees. Many local landowners find that deer continually browse young seedlings, hampering their reforestation efforts.
Sources of Tree Information
Dozens of websites offer virtual treasure troves of information about trees, including species identification aids and details about the best trees and shrubs to plant in our area to nurture birds and other wildlife. Here are a few: • The Wisconsin DNR’s site (dnr. wisconsin.gov) has sections dedicated to tree planting for wildlife, the top native plants to attract pollinators, and facts on forestry, including state forests, parks and other public recreation areas. • Another valuable website to bookmark is that of the National Arbor Day Foundation (arborday.org). The organization offers 10 free trees with a membership and recently launched the Time for Trees initiative. • Finally, Trees for Tomorrow (treesfortomorrow.com) in Eagle River – which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary – offers school programs, nature adventures, adult learning and summer programs for all. Every May, it sells containerized tree seedlings with roots already growing in a plug of soil.
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Subscribe to the Pulse Since 1996, the Peninsula Pulse has been distributed free throughout Door County, and it will always be free. When the COVID-19 crisis hit, we went a step further: We began mailing this newspaper to every mailbox in Door County for the first time – again, for free. But the paper you hold is not free to produce. Each week our team of 20 Door County residents delivers the news, the events and the stories of Door County, digging deep not just to tell you what happened, but also to find solutions and help move this community – our community – forward. Many readers have asked how they can help. The answer is simple: subscribe. No, you don’t need to purchase a subscription to keep getting the Pulse, but a $52 ($1 per week) annual subscription will cover the cost of mailing your paper to you every week. Buy one for yourself; buy one for your neighbor. To be a part of telling the stories of our community, visit DoorCountyPulse.com/ subscribe.
Endangered and Lost Trees of North America
Fraser Fir
America’s favorite Christmas tree is officially endangered, but chopping down millions each year isn’t even the cause. The trees, growing only on the highest slopes and summits of the Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, are susceptible to windfall and fire. But the most damaging threat today is the balsam woolly adelgid, which came from Europe in the 1950s. Once the insect infects the tree, it basically starves. By the 1980s, millions of trees had died. There is only one population of the tree that’s currently unaffected.
by DEBRA FITZGERALD debra.fitz@ppulse.com
“E
xtinct” isn’t a word scientists like to use. Some North American tree species have been lost since European settlement, but they can never really prove a hypothesis such as “extinct.” Presumed extinctions are often preferred. The demise of certain tree species is well documented, Did you know? however, their populations More than a third of decimated by disease, insects, all conifer species are threatened with global pests, deforestation and more. extinction. Source: We’ll remember a handful of Global Trees Campaign these in the following pages.
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april 23–30/2021 SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE | 3
The Big Plant Takes Root Countywide More than 13,000 trees to be planted this year by CRAIG STERRETT sterrettc64@gmail.com Peninsula Pulse contributor
Photos by Len Villano.
S
ome big ideas grew during a year of pandemic quarantine, and The Big Plant was one that caught on in a big way in Door County for 2021. The volunteer-run Climate Change Coalition (CCC) of Door County rebranded its own tree-planting program and is coordinating and tracking countywide Big Plant efforts from Earth Day, April 22, through the end of May. Most years, the CCC, The Nature Conservancy and the Forest Recovery Project collaborate to plant 800-900 trees with help from area school students. The coalition ordered far more trees this year, and many municipalities, groups, businesses and individuals got on board during the winter. As April began, the CCC had received word that more than 13,000 trees – and counting – would be planted this spring in preserves, parks and private properties countywide. “Everyone has been 100% on board that we’ve reached out to – so much so that we don’t have enough trees,” said Kate LeRoy, a volunteer and event planner for CCC. The organization ordered native trees from a nursery and will distribute them to groups. “We started out with a goal of about 5,000,” LeRoy said, “and we’ve hit that, and as word has gotten out, more organizations have jumped in. You have to plan pretty far in advance to get native saplings. Now some organizations are going to other nurseries to find more trees, or instead of planting smaller trees, [they’re] investing in a couple of larger trees to plant.” The trees that CCC ordered are onefoot-tall red pine, white pine, balsam fir and red spruce saplings. LeRoy said it’s great to see interest in native trees at businesses and in locations with new construction. For instance, condominium association members at Woodcrest Village in Sister Bay and Hidden Blossom near Fish Creek got involved. Other associations contacted CCC too late to reserve trees and instead ordered trees on their own.
Around the County
(Above) Individuals and organizations countywide signed up for The Big Plant, a major effort to plant more native trees to improve the environment in Door County. Not every woodland that’s damaged by disease or wind storms can be easily managed for the regeneration of native trees, but landowners, municipalities and civic and green organizations are doing their part through planting programs this spring to counteract some of the losses. Photo by Craig Sterrett.
After receiving its 500 trees through CCC, Door County Land Trust will give away 125 trees and 125 native flowers and plants on four days on a first-come, first-served basis in Sister Bay, Sturgeon Bay, Egg Harbor and the Southern Door Legacy Preserve at Clay Banks, said Cinnamon Rossman, Land Trust development director. The native plants include beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), false sunflower (Heliopsis
helianthoides) and monkey flower (Mimulus ringens). See the sidebar of events for details, and learn more at doorcountylandtrust.org. Farther south on the peninsula, the Brussels Lions Club will plant at the Southern Door School property, and Forestville-Maplewood Lions Club members’ properties will get new trees. In January, the Village of Egg Harbor put a call out for residents and business owners to sign up to purchase saplings for 69 cents each and pick them up around Earth Day. The village initially planned to sell 400 trees, reached that goal on the first day of ordering, and now has 824 saplings reserved, said Lydia Semo, Egg Harbor’s environment and sustainability coordinator. The Village of Ephraim, designated a Green Tier Community, ordered 53 trees and will give those to residents as a nod to 1853, the year when the Moravian religious community was founded, LeRoy said. Volunteers will plant 1,200 saplings for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) at Kangaroo Lake Preserve, and an additional 6,600 trees will be machineplanted. Before opening the work to more volunteers, TNC will contact its existing volunteers to ask them to register for time slots to “make sure we’re providing a safe experience in light of COVID,” said Kari Hagenow, Door peninsula land steward. In Sturgeon Bay, the staff at the 120acre Crossroads at Big Creek Preserve invited volunteers, or “Habitat Healers,” to attend a tree-planting lesson and then sent them to specific spots to plant trees. Crossroads ordered more than 400 trees from CCC, but it also has additional, ongoing reforestation projects. Visit crossroadsatbigcreek.org to find out more. In Baileys Harbor, Tia Bellisle told the town board she will donate $1,000 worth of shade trees, and the Rotary club will match that dollar amount for trees. Bellisle said she’d prefer the town to plant the trees in a space where people can “enjoy moments of quiet.” Also in Baileys Harbor, Frogtown Road resident Francha Barnard and Waseda Farms’ Jeff Lutsey are planning a tree giveaway to town residents May 8, before Mother’s Day. They’re acquiring 80 trees and gave the town the first pick for its parks and grounds. Ryan Weisgerber, the town’s public works supervisor, said town officials want to maintain some open spaces, but they may plant a few trees at Old School Park on Guy Street and perhaps one at Lakeside Park along Highway 57. As of early April, LeRoy was awaiting the exact timing for the tree delivery, and then CCC volunteers will need to tag the trees and place them in containers. To learn more, visit climatechangedoorcounty.com or email LeRoy at kateleroy@gmail.com.
Earth Day Events APRIL 22-MAY 23
APRIL 24
APRIL 24, 9:30-11:30 am
APRIL 27, 7 pm
Door County Big Plant
Every Day Is Earth Day
Habitat Healers
“A Beginner’s Guide to Using the Door County Map Portal”
Along with the Climate Change Coalition’s plan to distribute 2,021 trees this year, 18 Door County organizations are working to plant more than 2,000 trees throughout the county. As part of that effort, the Door County Land Trust will give away trees or native plants at these locations on these dates: • April 24, 9 am – 12 pm, Stabbur Beer Garden, 10698 N. Bay Shore Dr. in Sister Bay • May 1, 9 am – 12 pm, Main Street Market, 7770 Hwy 42 in Egg Harbor • May 8, 9 am – 12 pm, Southern Door School, 2073 Cty DK in Brussels • May 15, 9 am – 12 pm, Door County Land Trust office, 23 N. 5th Ave. in Sturgeon Bay Participants may choose three free plant or tree items per household. A voluntary donation will also initiate a complimentary Door County Land Trust membership for the remainder of the year.
Kress Pavilion, 7845 Church St., Egg Harbor
10:15 am: Earth Day yoga with Ann Johnson. Socially distanced and masked. 11:30 am: Herb walk with Dave LaLuzerne 1:15 pm: Birds of Prey experience with Open Door Bird Sanctuary 2:30 pm: Head to Jim Weikel’s homestead for a tour of Meadow Land, a diverse mixed habitat near Mud Lake Refuge. Find out more at kresspavilion.org/ededfest.
Crossroads at Big Creek (crossroadsatbigcreek.org), 2041 Michigan St. in Sturgeon Bay
Volunteer to do cleanup tasks – determined by need and weather – around the preserve. Help out for the entire two hours or just part of the time. Wear weather-appropriate clothes, and supply your own water.
APRIL 25, 1-3 pm
Watershed Day Crossroads at Big Creek (crossroadsatbigcreek.org), 2041 Michigan St. in Sturgeon Bay
Activities will include wetland restoration tours, a hunt for watershed features, demonstrations, seed and tree giveaways, and more.
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” Nelson Henderson
A Crossroads at Big Creek virtual presentation
Brian Forest, Door County Soil and Water conservationist, will lead a tutorial about how to use the Door County Map Portal to find your watershed address and learn more about your property. Email info@ crossroadsatbigcreek.org with “DC Map Portal” in the subject line to receive a link.
4 | SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE april 23–30/2021
PENINSULA PULSE
Beneath the Bark The policies and pressures surrounding trees – and what’s being done to manage them by JACKSON PARR jackson@ppulse.com
D
riving along the shaded, winding roads at the tip of the Door peninsula, or under the tight canopy near Whitefish Dunes, you can be forgiven if you fail to fully appreciate the deep and complex state and local institutions that help to manage such forests. These important ecosystems feel pressure from many sides – timber harvesting and making space for new development among them – but forests offer so many benefits to people near and far. It takes strong policies to strike the balance. “Managed forests are healthy forests,” said Jake Schroeder, a forester for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Northeast Region. Schroeder’s domain includes Door, Kewaunee and Manitowoc counties. “If we don’t go in to manage some of these forests, we’ll be dealing with some degraded habitats.” Management can mean many things, from targeting invasive species to clear cutting. Timber harvesting as a form of management is important to the state economy. According to the DNR, forestry and timber products support nearly 60,000 jobs in the state and contribute $23 billion to the state economy. The paper mills of the Fox Valley and the dense forests of northern Wisconsin drive most of that impact, with northeast Wisconsin and Door County seeing
significantly lower levels of employment in forestry. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nonmetropolitan region of northeast Wisconsin (the smallest geography for which data are available), there are 300 people employed as either foresters or forest-conservation workers. Schroeder said there is some commercial-scale timber harvesting in Door County that can take advantage of being relatively close to the mills around Green Bay. There are also a few smaller loggers in the area who keep the industry alive on the peninsula. Absent large-scale logging and massive mills, Door County values its forests for many other reasons. They provide critical wildlife habitat, help improve water quality, store carbon, offer a playground for those who love the outdoors, and are simply beautiful to look at and rejuvenating to walk through. All of these benefits require sound management. “Trees are living things, and they need room to grow,” said Nick Holmes, the tax law forestry specialist for the DNR. “Initially it might look scary to those folks driving by [who] see land [that] gets clear cut, but within two years, you’re seeing
(Right) The Managed Forest Law program has grown significantly in Door County since its inception. This figure shows the cumulative number of acres enrolled in the program and the cumulative orders in the program, or the number of agreements. Data provided by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
these resprouts that are going to be 10 or In Door County, the MFL program is 15 feet tall. You can think of it as a longbecoming more popular. There are 20,703 term game here.” acres enrolled, with half of those acres The state’s most popular tool to play added since 2009. Of those parcels, 2,402 the long game is the Managed Forest acres are also open to the public for Law (MFL), which gives landowners a activities such as hunting – an add-on to significant reduction the program that grants in their property taxes the landowner an extra Forestry and timber property-tax deduction. if they enter into a 25or 50-year contract to Development products support manage their forest acres pressures create an nearly 60,000 sustainably. The program, additional challenge jobs in Wisconsin which began is 1985, now that MFL can help to has nearly 3.5 million mitigate. The division and contribute acres enrolled across the of forested properties $23 billion to the state. into smaller parcels, state economy. Landowners develop or the construction of a management plan with driveways, homes, and the help of the DNR and patios, can splinter the a certified plan writer, which includes habitat and erase some of the benefits of a mandatory management practices contiguous forest. throughout the contract period. Managed MFL requires the parcel to be a forest parcels also help the DNR to track minimum of 20 contiguous acres, and and manage invasive species such as the enrollment in the program follows the emerald ash borer. land, not the landowner. If the property is “Each plan is tailored to that sold to someone else, the new owner will landowner’s specific property,” Holmes be required to uphold the remainder of said. “There may be scheduled timber the contract. harvesting or mandatory plantings to “It’s useful to think about the fact increase stock.” that it does go with the land,” said Skya Murphy, forest tax law policy specialist with the DNR. “It is a long-term commitment. The landowner has to be very involved and opt in.” That commitment is partially enforced by penalties for withdrawal, including a tax to recoup the property taxes that the landowner would have otherwise paid. Although foresters and conservationists may be optimistic that participation in the program is born out of a landowner’s passion for sustainably managed forests, Holmes said the tax benefits are a “pretty big carrot.” Still, if the amount the state loses in property-tax revenue from the program is less than the cost of actively managing 3.5 million acres – or watching habitats degrade, and forests splinter or lose their beauty – it’s worth it. You can find MFL properties that are also open to public access at the DNR’s Open Parcel Viewer at dnrmaps.wi.gov/ opfl.
WILD ONES
Healing the Earth, One Yard at a Time by COGGIN HEERINGA
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ild Ones of the Door Peninsula is a chapter of a national organization that has as its motto, “Healing the Earth, one yard at time.” On Earth Day, we all wish we could heal the Earth. Let’s face it: Its ecosystems are severely compromised, and we are totally dependent on the services provided by our ecosystem’s native plants. To heal the Earth, all we have to do is change the way we treat the land. But one yard at a time? Doesn’t that seem like tokenism? Can simple changes to a single yard make any difference at all? Douglas Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware and a popular writer and speaker, has graduate students researching this very question. Their studies indicate that even small, individual efforts truly do make a difference.
“If you are concerned about the human impact on our planet’s climate, reducing the amount of lawn you mow each week is one of the best things you can do to reduce your family’s carbon-dioxide emissions,” Tallamy wrote. “On average, mowing your lawn for one hour produces as much pollution as driving 650 miles. Moreover, we now burn 800 million gallons of gas each year in our dirty little lawnmower engines to keep our lawns at bay.” Several years ago, the Safe Lawn Door County organization did some research on lawns – which obviously are not a natural Door County landscape. It found that grasses with shallow root systems need synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Soils treated with these chemicals result in 75-80% less microbial activity. Pesticides and herbicides are toxic substances that can cause long-term health issues in children, pets, birds and beneficial insects. The Wild Ones organization does not advocate tearing out lawns altogether, but reducing the size of a lawn and
replacing grass with native plants will do much to help pollinating insects and has the added benefit of encouraging songbirds to nest in your yard. Landscaper Claudia West suggests that we think of lawn as an area rug, not wall-to-wall carpeting. Another added benefit would be having less lawn to water. And speaking of water, because native plants are deep rooted, they slow down stormwater runoff, which reduces erosion and improves water quality. You don’t have to pull out all of your nonnative perennials either. There is nothing inherently bad about most nonnative plants – except that they take up the space that could be used to plant natives. Not all natives are equally helpful, but native trees and shrubs are usually the most beneficial. It will probably make more of an impact to plant a couple of trees or shrubs rather than trying to establish a wildflower meadow. A great resource to learn about the most productive native plants is the Native Plant Finder on the National
Wildlife Federation’s website (nwf.org/ nativeplantfinder). Just enter your zip code, and the Plant Finder will provide a list of the most productive trees, shrubs and wildflowers that you could add to your landscape. Planting clusters is beneficial, and even trees should be planted in groups. One person cannot save the Earth – especially in one year – so start small. Transforming a landscape takes time. But if many people would take even small efforts to shrink lawns and plant native plants, the cumulative effect would be much greater than individual efforts. If you don’t have your own land, you can volunteer at a preserve or park. Celebrate Earth Day, and know that we really can help heal the Earth, one yard at a time. Coggin Heeringa is the president of Wild Ones of the Door Peninsula and the program director and naturalist at Crossroads at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay.
Conservation Hall of Fame Honors Jens Jensen
J
ens Jensen, the founder of The Clearing Folk School in Ellison Bay and an inspirational force behind the creation of The Ridges Sanctuary, will receive a long-overdue honor when he’s inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame on April 24, 11 am, joining the likes of Aldo Leopold and Gaylord Nelson. The public is invited to celebrate the 2020 and 2021 Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame inductees through four free, virtual induction-ceremony events. Fellow inductees include UW-Madison professors Stephen Born and Stanley Temple and citizen conservationist Gary Eldred.
Jensen (1860-1951) was a Danish-born landscape architect who designed more than 600 parks throughout Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, including some of the most prominent parks in Chicago. He fought to save the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and helped to create the Cook County Forest Preserves, which stunted the overwhelming surge of suburban sprawl to preserve natural environments for the masses. Well ahead of his time, Jensen was one of the first landscape architects to incorporate native plants and the location’s existing ecological, topographical and geographic features into his designs. He was also a tireless
advocate for the conservation of natural heritage. Upon his death, the New York Times called him the “Dean of American Landscape Architecture.” In 1920, Jensen focused his work around his private practice and started vacationing in Door County. He lived full time in Door County from 1935 – when he founded The Clearing – until his death in 1951. Here, he zealously continued his advocacy for protecting natural areas, serving as a principal proponent of The Ridges Sanctuary, Cave Point County Park, Whitefish Dunes State Park and Ellison Bluff County Park, among others. Registration is required for online access to the free, public induction ceremonies. To register, visit wchf. org/2021induction.
“A tree is our most intimate contact with nature.”
George Nakashima
DOORCOUNTYPULSE.COM
april 23–30/2021 SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE | 5
Do Trees Talk to Each Other? Much of the action appears to be taking place not where our gaze travels up, but below our feet Image from Goodreads.com.
by DEBRA FITZGERALD debra.fitz@ppulse.com
A
March 2018 story in Smithsonian Magazine titled “Do Trees Talk to Each Other?” states that trees, to reach enormousness, “depend on a complicated web of relationships, alliances and kinship networks.” The story featured Peter Wohlleben of Germany, who might have remained working in obscurity as a forester had his wife, Miriam, not insisted he write a book about his work. That book – The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – became an unlikely worldwide bestseller, including within the United States. During the past year, I read that book, as well as Richard Powers’ novel The Overstory. The novel is also about the hidden lives of trees, dramatized through the lives of humans who sometimes courageously, and always passionately, spend their lives understanding, studying and protecting them. I’ve always been drawn to forested lands. After reading these books, I will never walk in the woods, beneath the still majesty of trees, in the same way again. They are not merely there to shade, soothe or excite wonder and calm. They have grown mysterious and magical. And they are, according to these books, alert, social, sophisticated, communal, cooperative and even intelligent. Trees are also many of these things to Eric Kruger, a professor and chair of the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kruger is a forest eco-physiologist. This means, he said, that he’s interested in “how trees make a living.” We’re all familiar with photosynthesis, the process that allows plants such as trees to convert energy from sunlight, and chemical energy created from water and carbon dioxide, into a solid form of sugar. The tree then banks this in its leaves, stems, trunks, branches and roots to contribute to its growth. The oxygen we breathe is released into the atmosphere as a by-product of photosynthesis. If trees are “paid” through this photosynthetic process in the form of sugar, then how does a tree spend that sugar? There are a variety of ways, but communication is among those, Kruger said. First, there are the fungi. Microns in diameter, these soil-dwelling organisms attach to tree roots and form mycorrhizas – literally,
“fungus-roots.” These mycorrhizal largest in the forest, that act as fungi form networks that spread, hubs for mycorrhizal networks and map-like, for acres underground, pump sugar into the roots of young connecting trees to each other. And saplings living in deeply shaded “once you start linking organisms areas of a forest so the saplings can together, then the magic does begin,” live. Some Mother trees rain nuts Kruger said. down upon saplings competing with It’s been called a “wood-wide their own offspring. web,” this mycorrhizal connection Kruger said he has not personally – one that enables trees to witnessed the substantive communicate sugar, nutrients and communication that some scientists water to each other as needed. have documented about Mother These fungal networks form a “giant trees, but neither is he going to web of complexity,” Kruger said, quibble with it, he said. enabling transmission through “Certainly hormonal or biochemical messages and electrical biochemical signals can be impulses. transported from the fine root of one Mycorrhizal fungi are essentially tree to the next,” he said. farming the trees. As the network Tree roots can also graft together shuttles materials from one plant beneath the ground, forming a to the next, it’s trying to make sure physical joint that connects them in everyone is happy so the fungi a vascular system that exchanges get what they want: sugar. The signals, Kruger said. They perceive symbiotic relationship allows fungi one another as well. Trees absorb to consume at least 10% of a tree’s sunlight based on their location sugar, and likely far more, Kruger within the forest. A tree with a said – all in exchange crown that’s exposed for carrying messages to the sky absorbs among trees. wavelengths on the Recommended Another sugar electromagnetic Reading expense comes when spectrum that’s a tree communicates different from what The Hidden Life of Trees: distress signals about the trees below, living What They Feel, How They Communicate drought, disease, in shade or partial by Peter Wohlleben insects or herbivores. shade, can absorb. The This is the form of type of wavelength The Overstory communication that that tree leaves absorb by Richard Powers Kruger said he finds tells the tree where Entangled Life most interesting. Trees it is in relation to its by Merlin Sheldrake emit volatile chemicals neighbors. that then travel the “So they’re air currents to other trees, alerting perceiving lots of stuff and acting them to whatever danger is at hand, accordingly, and I kind of include be it an insect attack or a deer eating that in communication,” Kruger said. leaves. The membranes of the leaf I had many more questions for cells in the other trees have the Kruger than time or print would ability to perceive these chemical allow, but a final one was whether emissions and then emit their own the enormousness of a tree depends “cascade of biochemical reactions,” on its interconnection with other Kruger said. In the case of leaves trees. being attacked by herbivores, the Kruger was open to all other trees – and even other leaves possibilities. on the same tree – produce a “There’s a bit of the whimsical, a chemical defense that makes the leaf stretching of the imagination” about less palatable to an herbivore. trees, he said, “which I love because “That’s truly the trees,” Kruger that makes it enticing. I wouldn’t said. “Nothing else is involved.” say no. I just don’t have my own These are only two of the ways firsthand evidence in my career to trees in which talk to each other. back that up.” There are also Mother trees, the
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ENDANGERED & LOST TREES
Ash
The emerald ash borer has killed hundreds of millions of trees in North America since it arrived in Michigan in 2002 as a stowaway in packing crates from Asia. The insect’s larvae feed on the inner bark, disrupting the tree’s ability to transport food and water. It’s 100% fatal and is now found in 35 states, including Wisconsin, and in Door County.
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6 | SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE april 23–30/2021
PENINSULA PULSE
Going Green
DENN Creative Market
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(From left) DJ and Milissa Kloida, owners of DENN, live sustainably every day. Their store, located near Southern Door School at 2050 Cty DK, is made out of repurposed shipping containers and reclaimed windows and doors. They built the store themselves and sell antiques, furniture and art made from repurposed materials.
e asked residents and business proprietors to tell us how they’re doing their part to live and operate more sustainably in ways big and small. Here are a few of their stories. If you or your business is taking steps to reduce your impact, let us know at pr@ppulse.com.
The couple also took to the roadside this spring to clean up the woods near Stevenson Pier Road, picking up six garbage bags of trash on the short stretch.
Crossroads at Big Creek (From left) Jason Miller and Chrissy Hanke pull invasive reed canary grass from Big Creek as part of a multi-year ecological restoration project at Crossroads at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay.
The Stout Family Chris Stout says his family members have always been mindful of minimizing waste, diminishing their carbon footprint and repurposing material, but they have taken it a step further since moving full time to Egg Harbor. They’ve replaced old toilets with lowwater versions, swapped out old appliances for more energy-efficient models, and installed LED lights and an intelligent thermostat. “Thanks to our hikes and runs in the area parks, land trusts and preserves like The Ridges and Crossroads, we have upped our game, and we have bought a lot that was for sale in our Horseshoe Bay neighborhood for the sole purpose of conservation and keeping it as undeveloped land for wildlife habitats, indigenous plants and open space.”
The Palmer Family Jamie and Jason Palmer had always wanted a native prairie, but they didn’t have the sun to do it until they bought their house in Sturgeon Bay. They worked with a friend to cut 1,800 square feet of sod, stacked it upside down to decompose for the next spring, and hired Jason Wilke of Nature Care Ecological Consulting Services to remove invasive buckthorn and honeysuckle from their 2.5-acre property so that the naturally occurring native plant species could grow. The sod taken from the prairie area was allowed to decompose in the area where the vegetable garden will go. After removing the invasives, they burned some of the forest to encourage the native plant seeds that had long been buried under the soil to emerge. “We ordered our seed mix from Prairie Moon Nursery and planted our future prairie,” Jamie said. “Surrounding the future vegetable garden, we planted pollinator perennials. Over this past winter, my husband, Jason, started more perennial native plants as well as the vegetable plants.” Bird feeders and a bluebird box finish off their ecologically responsible landscape.
Destination Door County Launches Sustainability Pledge
D
estination Door County (DDC) is asking residents to lead the way on a new initiative: the Door County Pledge. It asks for a commitment to exploring the peninsula’s natural environment and culture with purpose, mindfulness, respect and care. Beginning April 20, DDC asks residents to help kick off the initiative by digitally signing the Door County Pledge at DoorCounty.com and encouraging others to do the same starting April 22. People can also sign the pledge in person at the Door County Welcome Center in Sturgeon Bay or at one of nine information centers around the county. “Choosing the week of Earth Day to launch our Door County Pledge initiative was a natural fit,” said Michelle Rasmusson, DDC’s director of marketing and sales. “Our role as an influential steward of this destination is a key component of the tourism-management efforts we’ve moved to the forefront of our list of responsibilities.
Pat Nash, right, Destination Door County’s director of visitor services, works with Tom and Alex Hickey of Door County Handyman on April 16 to install a new electronic counter at the Door County Welcome Center in Sturgeon Bay. Submitted.
While destination marketing is still a primary focus, destinationmanagement activities have a more prominent role now for us as well, and the Door County Pledge is proof of that.” The pledge focuses on water safety, environmental stewardship, destination
awareness, capacity constraints at certain locations and environmental preservation. “This is not about limiting what our residents and visitors can do,” Rasmusson said. “It’s about expanding everyone’s understanding of the county and helping us realize the role we all play in keeping it the special place it is.” Destination Door County will use in-person contacts, social media, online promotion, print, radio, partnering
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with other local organizations and more to generate awareness and encourage residents to take the pledge. DDC will also maintain a counter to show how many people have taken the Door County Pledge in the hopes of encouraging even more participation. An online tool kit will also be available for local organizations and businesses that wish to support the initiative. An ongoing “eco-drip” campaign will continue to speak to both residents and visitors about how everyone can do their part to protect the county’s natural beauty and cultural heritage, which are vital to the area’s long-term health and viability. The pledge is the beginning of a larger initiative that Door County tourism leaders are preparing to roll out next month that will highlight several new destination-management efforts. Details about a much broader Care for Door County initiative – which includes the pledge, a partnership with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, a push to become a Green Tier certified destination and more – will be released during National Travel and Tourism Week, May 2-8.
“All our wisdom is stored in the trees.” Santosh Kalwar
DOORCOUNTYPULSE.COM
april 23–30/2021 SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE | 7
Planting Primer: How Not to Kill Your New Trees by CRAIG STERRETT sterrettc64@gmail.com Peninsula Pulse contributor
between the surface and stone, consider digging in a different location.
J
A Hole That’s Too Deep, Shallow or Narrow
ake Schroeder can’t help but notice errors when he drives past newly planted, but dead, trees. Whether looking at large plantings or just a few trees in a lawn, the forestry leader for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Northeast Region sees a few common problems, as do other experts.
Tender Youth
“The biggest thing fighting trees,” Schroeder said of mass plantings, “are weeds and deer.” Weeds can steal water, nutrients and shade from young trees, and deer destroy many immature trees. People planting one or a few trees at home can protect them by pulling weeds and grass from around the tree, spreading a thin layer of mulch around the tree (but not against the trunk) and putting cages around the trees or placing translucent tubes around the trunks.
J-Hook Root
With bedrock just a few inches below the surface in many locations in Door County, it’s not always easy to dig a hole to plant a tree. Still, it’s crucial to get the tree root vertical in the hole. If not, a J-shaped root can come back to the surface, girdle the trunk and kill the tree, Schroeder said. If there’s not enough soil
“Hands down,” the No. 1 mistake people make is planting trees too deep, said Washington Island resident Jerry Landwehr, a horticulturist and co-founder of the Green Bay Botanical Garden. The spot where the trunk begins to taper outward should be above ground, Schroeder said. Many business operators simplify that instruction by telling people that the top of the soil in the root ball or tree container should be even with the ground surface, but Landwehr suggests planting so the top of that soil is an inch above ground level because trees are often potted with soil too high up the trunk. Also, the planted tree often settles into loosened soil at the bottom of the hole. Roots should not be completely exposed along the surface, but it’s OK for the top of an upper root to be at the surface, Schroeder said. Be sure to dig the hole a few inches wider than the root ball, giving the roots room to spread. Bridenhagen Tree and Landscape owner Ivan Bridenhagen said people become frustrated when digging into rocky Door County lawns, so they sometimes dig a tiny hole, giving the roots no room or opportunity to spread. Door County Landscape nursery manager Karen Newbern said root balls
in burlap need loosened soil around the hole because those roots were cut before wrapping.
Too Much Mulch
Mulch helps conserve moisture for a tree, moderates the temperature around a tree and prevents grass and weeds from competing for sunshine and water, but often people pile on too much mulch, effectively burying their trees alive. “You don’t want to see the mulch volcano,” Schroeder said. And keep the mulch away from the base of the trunk, Newbern said, because thick mulch can cause moisture and fungus problems, which weaken trees. The National Arbor Day Foundation suggests clearing grass from around the tree and then adding two to four inches of mulch in a three-footdiameter circle around a small tree and up to 10 feet around a large tree.
Not Enough Water
New trees need a good, slow soaking after planting, and again once a week throughout spring, summer and into the fall, Landwehr said. Although some tree experts suggest watering twice a week, Landwehr said watering very well just one time per week allows time for the root ball to dry out somewhat, which causes the roots to spread out properly in a quest for more water. Newbern suggested watering deciduous trees until they drop leaves in the autumn and watering new evergreens until the ground freezes. Bridenhagen said that part-time residents need to find ways to water new trees if they cannot be present weekly. Want more tips about planting trees? Visit arborday.org/trees/planting.
Native Trees
As part of its long-term ecological restoration plan, staff and volunteers at Crossroads at Big Creek, 2041 Michigan St. in Sturgeon Bay, are adding or protecting the following native species and others. They’re planting a diversity of trees, often with a couple of species in small clusters, simulating how they would pop up and thrive in nature. • Lowlands: quaking aspen, bigtooth aspen, cottonwood, balsam poplar, red maple and native silver maple. • Where rows of exotic, mature and healthy Norway spruce are being thinned out over time: white spruce, white pine, hemlock, balsam fir and red oak. • Elsewhere: paper birch, black cherry, ninebark (shrub), meadowsweet spirea (shrub), red cedar, red pine, pin cherry, ironwood, sugar maple, arborvitae, basswood and yellow birch.
New Tree Options
Because Dutch elm disease killed most American elms that lined streets during the mid-20th century, landowners have had little interest in planting any type of elm, said Ivan Bridenhagen, owner of Bridenhagen Tree and Landscape. “Some of the elms that are out now are great, but you’re fighting the stigma of something that was in the past,” he said, mentioning that elm varieties including Accolade and Princeton have been doing well. Also, Bridenhagen said beech bark disease is killing beech trees nationwide and in Door County. He and his crew have been planting shade-tolerant American hornbeam, a native species, in spots that have been suitable for beech. And, although Colorado blue spruce have been experiencing a wide variety of problems in the Midwest and Door County, Norway spruce are more disease resistant and have been thriving here.
ENDANGERED & LOST TREES
Tree-Pictures.com
American Elm
The American elm was the most popular tree to plant in 19th-century cities, so by the 20th century, many streets were lined only with elms. Then in the 1950s came the devastating pathogen called Dutch elm disease, which actually originated in Asia. It mowed down elm after elm through their grafted root systems or with the help of a beetle. The biggest lesson learned from the devastation was the importance of planting a variety of trees. A number of disease-resistant elms are available today.
444684 - WI.603N.RR.STA GFL Local Team FNL1 10.6x36
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8 | SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE april 23–30/2021
PENINSULA PULSE
Foraging Door County Forests by PATTY WILLIAMSON, PHD
O
of medicinal drugs derived from natural sources such as plants. He became more interested in incorporating herbal remedies – the source of natural healing – into his life and career.
“If you take away trees, a very important part of the entire ecosystem is eliminated. After that, it would be a chain reaction until everything was gone.” — David LaLuzerne of Ellison Bay, herbal pharmacist and forager
Photos by Len Villano.
ur peninsula was lucky. The Paleo-Indians, who first lived here about 2,000 years ago, were primarily hunters and fishers who did little to disturb the primeval forest. That changed beginning in the mid1800s with settlement and farming, but the forest has since reclaimed Door County. According to Jake Schroeder, a forester with Wisconsin’s Division of Forestry, 48% of Door County is now classified as forest, ranking it 24th among the state’s 72 counties. David LaLuzerne, a selfdescribed herbal pharmacist and
forager, spends a lot of time in the woods of Door County. “If you take away trees, a very important part of the entire ecosystem is eliminated,” he said. “After that, it would be a chain reaction until everything was gone.” During the 1970s, LaLuzerne was in the last class at the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy that was required to take a course in pharmacognosy, or the study
“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”
The focus on medicinal plants led LaLuzerne to open three Green Earth vitamin and herb shops in the Madison area that he operated for 20 years. And based on his travels in the U.S., China, Peru and throughout Europe, he produced 120 episodes of HerbTV (herbtvonline.com) that gained 1.2 million views on YouTube. He recently donated the entire collection to the American Botanical Council. Since 2014, LaLuzerne has been “retired” in Ellison Bay, but at least half of his time is devoted to his work as an herbalist. During the winter, he teaches classes at The Clearing, and interest in those classes led to the walks he leads to introduce people to the herbs and mushrooms growing in their environment that can be used to maintain health and well-being. Although various herbs are beneficial to certain parts of the body, LaLuzerne is concerned about advertising that portrays compounds of herbs and mushrooms as cure-alls for nearly every human ailment. Most of these ads, he said, are based on limited and/or unrelated research. In contrast, he is intensely committed to raising awareness of the value of herbs and mushrooms not as medicine, but as food that helps to strengthen the ability of the body’s immune system to protect the body from bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi that cause infection and disease. Forests provide habitats for about 90% of all the earth’s species, both plants and animals. Scientists say that forests are “reserves” for the genes of biodiversity, and those reserves require immediate, ongoing remediation. “It’s like what is happening with farmland,” LaLuzerne said. “If we don’t start regenerating it, it’s estimated that we have only enough usable farmland in the world for 60 more harvests.” Many of us will have greatgrandchildren alive in 2082. If we do nothing, what will they eat?
ENDANGERED & LOST TREES
Ralph Waldo Emerson
American Chestnut
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The American chestnut was the dominant hardwood species in eastern forests before the 1900s. An exotic fungal disease infested southern populations. This root-rot disease was followed by the more commonly known chestnut blight, which spread throughout the eastern hardwood forests at a rate of 24 miles per year. By the 1950s, virtually all mature American chestnuts had succumbed to the disease. American chestnut is now a minor understory component, existing as sprouts from old stumps and root systems, but scientists are resurrecting this once-great tree on Forest Service lands in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
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Butternut (White Walnut)
Many butternut populations are being devastated by an exotic fungal canker disease. First discovered in Wisconsin in 1967, the fatal fungal disease girdles the stems and branches and has killed up to 80% of butternut trees in some states. Native in the upper eastern U.S. and southern Canada, it can also grow as far south as Georgia. The species is on the road to extinction unless a cure can be found. Overharvesting butternuts commercially for lumber has also contributed to its decline.
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april 23–30/2021 SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE | 9
“The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.” John Muir
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