Forest Health

Two new publications are now available from the University of Maryland Extension and partners to help you manage your woodlands.

The News and Notes roundup for this issue shares news about a potentially new invasive plant species that may affect Maryland, and information about a potentially new avenue for fighting Emerald Ash Borer. Additional items share a property owner's journey to stewardship, a way for power utilities to expand early successional habitat, and results of a survey that asked property owners about methods for managing invasive species.

Dramatic declines in pollinators and grassland and shrub-dependent birds like bobwhite quail, meadowlarks, and more highlight the need for habitat improvement efforts on a broad scale. Our vision is for this meeting to provide education, networking, and inspiration to facilitate habitat improvement efforts across the region.

Resources for information about other environmental threats facing the woodlands of Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region.

Publications to help you better manage your woodlands.

Drive along many of Maryland’s major roads in the spring, and you will see what seems like a wall of white, as the Callery pear (and its offshoot, the Bradford pear) are in bloom. While these may be an impressive sight, these trees are an invasive and highly competitive species.

New from The Woods in Your Backyard Partnership, the Woodland Health Practices Field Guide provides the latest, research-based information on land-care practices.

The land care practices in "The Woods in Your Backyard" has helped hundreds of property owners and land managers. Our new publications, "Woodland Health Practices Handbook" and "Woodland Health Assessment Checklist," help green industry professionals apply these practices to their business services.

A non-native nematode is causing beech leaf disease in native Maryland beech trees. This article offers advice on identifying BLD in local beech trees and what to do if you find evidence.