"The relationship between forests and rivers is like father
and son."
-Gifford Pinchot, 1905
Mission
The USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area State and Private
Forestry and the State Foresters from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa,
Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana have joined in partnership to
build a watershed-wide approach to forestry efforts in the Upper
Mississippi Basin. The Upper Mississippi River Forestry Partnership
will focus activities, demonstration projects, and cooperative
programs on key watershed forestry issues: water Pollution, loss of migratory bird habitat, forest loss and fragmentation.
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Who We Are
Trees and forests can play an important role in solving ecological problems in the Upper Mississippi River Watershed. The Partnership was created to build a watershed-wide approach to forestry efforts in the area. Its purposes include demonstrating how important forests are in healthy watersheds, assessing how forest conditions relate to water quality, promoting forestry solutions that cut the basin’s sediment and nutrient losses, and developing and supporting forest restoration work in the basin.
The Partnership does this in many ways, including strengthening coordination among the many federal, state, and local units of government and conservation organizations concerned about the forests of the Upper Mississippi, implementing assessment and demonstration projects, and conducting educational efforts to address key watershed issues.
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Trees and Watersheds: What’s the Big Deal?
Just as people and water are intertwined, so are trees and water. Besides needing the water to grow, trees help clean the water. Plants also need nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to grow but too much of them is not good. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in water causes excessive algae growth which looks bad and can smell worse. The algae blocks sunlight, killing underwater plants that fish need. When bacteria break down the algae they can use up so much oxygen that fish suffocate. Sediment is another pollutant blocking sunlight and covering the water bottom where fish and frogs lay their eggs.
Trees help address the problems of too much nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment by:
- Slowing water flow with their roots, helping water seep into the ground, and trapping soil particles on the surface before they are washed away. Phosphorus attaches to soil particles and is also trapped.
- Taking in water through the roots. About 25% of the nitrogen in the water is taken up by the roots and used for plant growth.
Trees can also help clean the air by:
- Absorbing air-borne nitrogen.
- Absorbing carbon dioxide and using the carbon for plant growth.
- Trapping or “sequestering” carbon as a building block of the tree’s branches, leaves, trunk and roots. This carbon won’t contribute to climate change until the tree is cut down and either decomposes or is burned.
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Accomplishments
Among its accomplishments, the Partnership:
- Used a grant from the Northeastern Area to hire a program coordinator, 2004-2007. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources managed the grant. Funding for the position ended in 2007. The NA St. Paul Field Office currently provides a coordinator.
- Held a stakeholders meeting in 2006, which brought 75 partners together to solidify the direction of the Partnership. The first Action Plan covered from 2004-2008 and the second plan covers from 2009-2013.
- Provided technical expertise and project funding to two significant smaller partnerships: the Driftless Area Initiative and the Middle Mississippi River Partnership.
- Planted almost 500,000 acres of trees in the uplands and bottomlands within the 5 Upper Mississippi states, through the Conservation Reserve Program.
- Stimulated landowners’ interest in improving forest habitat for birds. Four demonstration forests have been established for landowners to learn how to manage their woodlands for bird habitat and two publications have been produced that provide this information to them:
Managing from a Landscape Perspective: A Guide for Integrating Forest Interior Bird Habitat Considerations and Forest Management Planning in the Driftless Area of the Upper Mississippi River Basin
A Bird’s Eye View—A Guide to Managing and Protecting your Land for Neotropical Migratory Birds in the Upper Mississippi River Blufflands
- Has combated Dutch elm disease (DED), one of the most destructive shade tree diseases in North America. Despite DED, elm remains as a component of natural stands. Trees often survive to seed producing age, but later succumb to the disease. The U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station has been working on developing strains of elms with enhanced tolerance to DED. About 100 elms with enhanced DED tolerance have been planted in 4 Upper Mississippi sites. These trees will be monitored for survival and seed production.
- Partnered with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to establish the Upper Mississippi Watershed Fund. As of spring 2009, 18 habitat restoration projects have been funded totaling $1,029,799 with a partner match of $2,084,390.
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Your Role in the Partnership
How Can You Make a Difference?
- Plant a tree!
- Join a tree planting organization:
- Care for trees in your yard—mulch, prune, water when needed. These links can help:
- Be a tree advocate—look for and notify your city or town parks department about changes in tree conditions.
- If you are a forest landowner, have a forester examine your property and help you develop a forest stewardship plan to make your dreams for your woods a reality. See NA’s Forest Stewardship site for more information. (link “Forest Stewardship” to http://www.na.fs.fed.us/stewardship/index.shtm)
- If you are a teacher there are many resources to teach about trees and water. Here are just a few:
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