Update from Sentence to Serve - February

During the month of January, Sentence to Serve (STS) helped Chester Woods staff clear a three-acre section of woods east of the campgrounds. This section of woods had a large population of Ash trees dying from Emerald Ash Borer. The trees could be treated but that would only potentially prolong their life by ten years. By clearing the woods, we provide space and sunlight to the forest floor so new trees can grow straight and not reach outward for sunlight.

Ash trees are not the first to have their population significantly reduced in the Midwest. Between the 1970s and 1990s, the estimated elm tree population of 77 million was killed off by 75%. The Dutch Elm Disease was believed to have arrived in a shipment of logs from the Netherlands on the east coast in the 1920s. Oak wilt is also another disease affecting our forest.

Oak wilt is caused by a non-native, invasive fungus. The fungus invades the water-conducting vessels of oaks, eventually killing infected trees. First discovered in Minnesota around 1945, the oak wilt covers about one-third of the area where most Minnesota oaks grow. From the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: “The DNR’s forest health unit wants to slow the northward progression of oak wilt, so we focus on early detection, coordinating control efforts on private lands in Morrison and Pine countries, and helping control oak wilt on public lands at the northern edge of where oak wilt is found.”

For more information on forest health, visit the Minnesota Department of Natural Recourses website.