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It's time to register for the 2015 Texas Tree Climbing Championship. The top finisher will represent the Texas Chapter at the 2016 International Tree Climbing Championship - to be held in San Antonio next April 2016!

Click on the link below register, sign up as an exhibitor or just learn more about this exciting event.

The following are bills in the Texas legislature at this time that may be of interest to ISAT membership.  ISAT takes no position for or against these bill and this is only to inform you that they may or may not affect Trees and landscaping in Texas. Here are links to each bill and your representative. 

HB 1863 & SB1924 Relating to landscape control along interstate and state highway rights-of-way. 

HB 1442 Relating to a property owner's right to remove a tree or vegetation that the owner believes poses a fire risk. 

SB 343 Relating to the conformity of local law with state law. 

HB 1472 Relating to the enforcement of requirements for the issuance of local permits by regulatory agencies of political subdivisions.

Texas House Members

Texas Senate Members

There is a new insect pest that is spreading to crape myrtle trees throughout Texas.  This insect was first detected in 2004 in Dallas, but it wasn't until last year that this scale was positively identified as an exotic scale, Eriococcus lagerstroemiae.  In 2014 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension published information about this scale and most recently, AgriLife employees have worked with the Southern Region IPM Center to create an information clearinghouse and citizen science database for this pest.

Here's where AgriLIfe especially needs your help.  They are asking people in Texas who think they have encountered this pest to report it. The Early Detection and Distribution Mapping (EDDMaps) site makes this process fairly simple.  A person can register on the site and click on the REPORT SIGHTINGS tab and report a new location for this pest.  A report is verified by pictures, so they encourage folks to take a digital picture of the suspect infested tree. The site allows the person putting in the data to pinpoint down to the precise block or backyard where the infested tree is located.

AgriLife knows that the scale is already present in Houston and College Station; but they have very few reports from east and Central Texas sites.

For the 100-year anniversary of TFS, the agency presents a new edition of this classic book, telling the stories of 101 trees throughout the state.  

Tree Care During Drought, will be presented April 9. Many trees are stressed by prolonged periods of hot, dry weather, so selecting trees that use water efficiently is one way to make your landscape more resistant to drought.

This program will address tree maintenance procedures such as mulching, proper pruning, fertilization and supplemental irrigation. It will be presented by Lara Schuman,  ISA Certified Arborist and acting program manager at City of Austin Urban Forestry.

Want to improve the look of your vehicle and get a chance to win some great prizes? Just have a friend take a picture of you pointing to your license plate and send it here. Your picture is your entry in a prize drawing to be held at the Texas Tree Conference this October 2nd.  

How do you get one of these great plates and support the Texas Urban Forestry Councils Tree Micro Grant program at the same time? Just click on the link below.

 Click here for more information

Don't forget, Texas will host the 2016 International Conference in Fort Worth in 2016!!!

The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station has a new temporary exhibit on display titled History in the Making: Texas A&M Forest Service.

The exhibit brings to life the people, places and events that shaped the agency for the past 100 years. As visitors enter the exhibit, they walk into a forest setting and are taken back to the agency's humble beginnings-with those first six patrolmen on horseback. 

They'll have the opportunity to learn about early fire detection and extinguishing methods, and can follow along the walls of the exhibit to see how TFS evolved throughout the century.

Click here for more information on the Bush Library exhibit

Click here for the TFS Centennial website

The SUFC is an assembly of national organizations working to advance a unified urban forest agenda for our nation's communities.

The SUFC is composed of city planners, educators, landscape architects, non-profit leaders, scientists, arborists, foresters, nurserymen and women, and many other professionals who care for, monitor and advocate for trees and our urban forests as a whole.