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Dear Wisconsin nurseries, Christmas tree growers, and gardeners:
Wishing you all a safe, healthy, and joyful holiday season! Take a moment to read through a few updates from the DATCP nursery program and send any feedback, questions, or ideas for future e-news updates to datcpnursery@wisconsin.gov.
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Christmas tree sales lot | DATCP K. Jerabek
Inspectors have started visiting retail locations, inspecting cut Christmas trees and holiday home décor. The main purpose of lot inspections is to intercept material with injurious pests or diseases and ensure that Christmas trees harvested in Wisconsin are from a licensed producer.
Elongate Hemlock Scale (EHS) and Balsam Woolly Adelgid (BWA) are two pests of concern that inspectors have found on cut Christmas trees and holiday décor in the last couple of years. Last year, three lots had material infested with live EHS and two lots had material with live BWA. All infested material was removed from sale and destroyed.
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Fir boughs infested with EHS | DATCP image
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Distorted twig growth caused by BWA infestation | DATCP M. Wensing
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Due to the number of interceptions of material infested with EHS coming into Wisconsin from other states, Wisconsin instituted an exterior quarantine for EHS in 2023, which requires growers or vendors importing stock from an infested area to sign an annual compliance agreement with DATCP. Regulated articles include Christmas trees, boughs, wreaths, roping, and nursery stock or seedlings. Documentation verifying the imported plant material is free of EHS and pre-notification of incoming shipments are requirements of the compliance agreement. If no compliance agreement has been issued, each shipment of regulated material from an infested area must be accompanied by a state phytosanitary certificate verifying the materials were inspected by a pest control official from the state of origin. Failure to adhere to the exterior quarantine may result in a Pest Abatement Order and require the imported material to be properly disposed of.
When importing Christmas trees, boughs, wreaths, or roping, inspect the material as it comes in and contact your local nursery inspector if you suspect they may be infested with an injurious pest or disease.
If you have questions regarding EHS regulations or need to obtain a compliance agreement with DATCP, please contact Meg Sanders, Forest Pest Regulatory Coordinator, at (715) 891-8158 or MeganT.Sanders@wisconsin.gov.
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Left to right: first Christmas tree pest manual published in 1983, second edition published in 1998, third edition published in 2014
This is [an abridged version of] the story of the evolutionary history of the best-selling U.S. Forest Service Christmas Tree Pest Manual, to which the Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers Association and some of its members played a key role. (full length article originally published in the October 2024 WCTPA Quarterly Journal.)
In 1965, the Christmas tree industry was thriving with about 30 million trees harvested annually, with about one-third of the total harvest coming from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. But a problem was looming; Christmas trees were being grown in plantation monocultures where the same species were grown close together over extensive areas. Over time, this type of tree farming periodically provided perfect conditions for trees, and often entire plantations to be damaged or destroyed by weather, animals, fire, insects, and diseases.
Fortunately for Christmas tree growers in the north central states, the USDA Forest Service North Central Forest Experiment Station (NCFES) was able to help. It had a strong insect and disease research capability to work on pest problems plaguing the Christmas tree and nursery industries in its seven-state region of responsibility. NCFES disease and insect research scientists were given the mission to prevent and minimize the impact of the most important insects and diseases of north central forests, plantations, nurseries, and Christmas tree plantings. Thus started the station’s long history of studying Christmas tree and nursery pests, leading to the eventual publication of the Christmas Tree Pest Manual. This is how it all began.
During the mid-1960s an unidentified needlecast disease killed or severely damaged millions of scotch pine and red pine seedlings in at least 30 nurseries in nine states, spreading to scotch pine Christmas tree plantations by the 1970s, resulting in millions of trees made unsalable as Christmas trees. Once the pathogen was identified as the fungus, Lophodermium pinastri, NCFES developed successful control methods to stem the outbreak. After that, at any one time, the Station’s Forest Disease and Insect Research Projects had up to five forest pathologists and entomologists working to solve a host of conifer pest problems. Most problems first started developing on the most popular Christmas tree species grown at the time, the non-native Scotch pine.
Ultimately, an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan was developed and published for each pest based upon research findings. The IPM plans included a combination of effective chemical, biological, and cultural control methods applied at the appropriate times to prevent or minimize pest damage by the most economical means, and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment. Over the years The NCFES research publications evolved into a popular “How To” pest series of publications, “Pocket Guides to Diseases”, and the “Christmas Tree Pest Manual.”
The How To pest series was written and published with color photos, rarely used in those days, to quickly attract attention of potential non-technical users of research information. The user-friendly How To publications turned out to be incredibly popular and successful.
In 1983, the How Tos and Pocket Guides were updated and consolidated to create the first ever, best-selling Christmas Tree Pest Manual. That manual offered practical controls that could help prevent or reduce damage caused by 70 major Christmas tree pests. Almost 10,000 copies had been sold by 1989 when it was in its fourth printing.
Eventually, Christmas tree growers switched from primarily growing Scotch pine to focusing mostly on fir species. This switch initiated a whole new set of pest problems requiring new research efforts, resulting in two revisions of the Christmas Tree Pest Manual in 1998 and 2014. The 2014 edition covered over 100 pests compared to only 70 in the first 1983 manual!
Although the Christmas Tree Pest Manual was designed primarily for use in the Northcentral and Northeastern U.S., it was found to be useful anywhere Christmas trees were grown. And currently, there are close to 350 million real Christmas trees being grown on tree farms all across the U.S. that need pest protection. Thus, I predict the manual’s usefulness and updating will continue for some time to come.
The undertaking of producing and updating the Christmas Tree Pest Manual required hard work upon the part of many agencies, researchers, editors, cooperators, and partners including, but not limited to, the USDA Forest Service, Christmas tree growers, nursery managers and their respective associations, State University Forest insect and disease researchers and Extension personnel, and state departments of agriculture and natural resources. We thank them all for their past and continuing efforts to help keep the Christmas tree and nursery industries viable by helping them protect and produce healthy, profitable real trees for sale for all to enjoy while enhancing our natural environment.
--By Thomas H. Nicholls, Project Leader and Research Plant Pathologist, retired, North Central Forest Experiment Station (now Northern Research Station), St. Paul, MN
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Residents wanting to know when pesticide applications will be made to nearby properties can now sign up to receive notifications through the landscape pesticide registry. The registry is a service offered by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and allows Wisconsin residents to be notified 12 hours before commercial pesticide applications are applied to neighboring landscapes. The deadline to sign up is February 1, 2025.
Individuals interested in joining the registry must provide their contact information so that lawn care businesses can notify them when necessary. They must also list the addresses of places in their neighborhood that they wish to be notified about when companies are going to apply landscape pesticides. Properties can only be registered if they are located on the block where you live, or blocks that are immediately adjacent to the block where you live.
The registry is not available for fertilizer applications or for pesticide applications to properties beyond your home block or adjacent blocks, as well as farm fields, buildings, utility, or road rights-of-way.
Registration for the landscape pesticide registry is open November 1-February 1 every year for the following growing season. Registration must be completed on an annual basis. To register, visit MyDATCP.
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Please take our brief feedback survey on our monthly What's Growing On? e-newsletter. With this survey, we aim to measure your satisfaction regarding the format, frequency, and quality of the content provided. Please give us your most transparent feedback. The survey is anonymous.
A comment section is available at the end of the survey for those of you who would like to provide more detailed feedback on the content offered. Thank you in advance for taking the time to help us improve this newsletter.
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Nursery and Christmas tree licenses for this growing season (LY2025) will expire on February 20, 2025. Expiration notices to renew your license for the next growing season (LY2026) were emailed on November 13. Paper notices were mailed out at the end of November. Please contact us if your email or address has changed since your last renewal.
License renewals can be completed online by using the MyDATCP portal. If you have never used the online license portal, a PIN will be located on your expiration notice so you can register for a MyDATCP account. If you need assistance getting into your account, contact datcpnursery@wisconsin.gov or (608) 224-4574.
Renewing online is an efficient way to update location information, contact information, and sources of plant materials without having to mail in a paper application. Also, once your license is issued, you have the ability to print your license certificate from your computer. No need to wait for the mail.
If you are no longer in business, or if you do not plan to sell perennials next year, please let us know so we can close or suspend your license. This avoids any compliance actions, which may occur for entities who fail to contact us or renew by the February 20, 2025 deadline.
Tips and Reminders:
- Allow pop-ups from MyDATCP
- Only one tab of MyDATCP can be open at a time
- If you have multiple license types, they each need to be renewed individually; but you can pay for them all at once by accessing your invoices from the "My Invoices" tab of MyDATCP
- Watch the video tutorial to walk you through the online renewal process
- Renew your nursery license before Feb. 20 to avoid the 20% late fee, and to check this off your busy to-do list!
For more information, email DATCPnursery@wi.gov, call (608) 224-4574 or visit the Nursery and Christmas tree licensing webpage.
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EPA Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Webinar series
Jan. 14, 2025, 1:00-2:30 p.m. CST: Trees for Bees and Other Pollinators
Jan. 28, 2025, 1:00-2:30 p.m. CST: Reducing Pests in Schools Through IPM
Feb. 11, 2025, 1:00-2:30 p.m. CST: IPM for Four Key Greenhouse Pests
Feb. 26, 2025, 1:00-2:30 p.m. CST: Getting to the Root of the Problem: Myths About Urban Trees and Soil
Mar. 19, 2025, 1:00-2:30 p.m. CST: Picking Up Ticks: New Threats, Precautions and IPM Solutions
April 22, 2025, 1:00-2:30 p.m. CST: Promoting Pollinators Through Plant Selection
May 13, 2025, 1:00-2:30 p.m. CST: Protecting the Public from Illegal and Unregistered Pesticides
REGISTER HERE
Real Christmas Tree Board 2025 Webinar Series
Jan. 14, 2025, 10:00-11:00 a.m. CST: Reducing Cone Formation in Fraser Fir
Jan. 28, 2025, 10:00-11:00 a.m. CST: Managing Phytophthora Root Rot on Ch. Tree Plantations
REGISTER HERE
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 The first meeting of the Non-Profit Nursery Network will be Dec. 19 at 1:00 p.m. CST. The group will meet monthly on third Thursdays at 1 p.m. CST. The goal of this network is to connect non-profit and municipal tree nursery managers through collaboration, resource sharing, and mutual support. REGISTER HERE.
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Eastern spruce gall adelgid on white spruce in Dunn Co. | DATCP K. Jerabek
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Pine needle scale on balsam fir in La Crosse Co. | DATCP T. Boyle
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[likely] Brown felt blight on balsam fir in Lincoln Co. | DATCP J. Oestreich
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Pine gall rust on scotch pine in Dunn Co. | DATCP K. Jerabek
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