Welcome back!

What is LEAF?

LEAF, Wisconsin’s K-12 Forestry Education Program, offers state-wide resources to assist Wisconsin educators with forestry education.

LEAF, created in 2001, is a partnership between the Wisconsin DNR - Division of Forestry and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education.

Who is LEAF?

LEAF’s core outreach and education staff includes Gretchen Marshall, Nicole Filizetti, Steve Schmidt and Jonathan Ismail. These are the names and faces most of you will be familiar with from their work leading out professional development efforts and conducting.

LEAF’s support staff through the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education (WCEE) includes Gina Smith, Matthew Brown, Jamie Mollica, and Heather Phelps. These specialists focus on the behind the scenes activities of administration, communication, curriculum development, resource management and planning, but don’t be too surprised if you see them out and about supporting LEAF outreach efforts in the state.

2022 School Forest Awards Winners Announced

Congratulations to this past year’s School Forest Award Winners!

Nominations for this year will open in December.

Henry Schienebeck was presented with a School Forest Award at the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association spring meeting in Green Bay.

Carol Pleudeman nominated Henry for his work with the Northland Pines School Forest. Henry has supported school forests statewide by organizing Log-A-Load events which bring hundreds of students into the forest to learn about sustainable forestry while the harvest is taking place. 

 Adam Gould is the first full-time school forest coordinator of Severson Learning Center (SEL) in the Cambridge School District. 

He was nominated by super-volunteer, retired educator Georgia Ibanez-Gomez for work to start up SEL programs and bring students to the school forest.

WDNR Forester Jeff Nyquist has worked with the Tomorrow River Schools on their forests.

He was nominated by fellow DNR forester, Lyle Eiden, and Ag Science Educator, Rachel Ziegler for his tireless work to salvage the timber after several wind events blew down trees. He also worked with students to teach about sustainable forestry throughout the process and plant trees over the years. 

Jenna McCann was presented with a School Forest Award at an award ceremony attended by all of the students at Merrimac Community School. Students in Jenna’s 2nd grade class enthusiastically led a tour of the school forest where they pointed out a few of their favorite places.

Sidnee Malek, school forest founder, said, “Jenna has, over many years, intentionally prepared students, families, and the community to realize their responsibility to care for local resources. She is living her promise to care for the environment, doing so in both her professional and personal life.” ​

Joe Kinscher, educator at Valders High School, founded the Valders School Forest and mentors colleagues in their use of the forest.

Joe was recognized at a district award banquet.

He and his students have planted hundreds of trees and are part of a partnership with UW–Green Bay (Manitowoc) to study water quality of the stream that runs through the forest.

Jerry Maney was honored for his 30 plus years as the Wausau School Forest Coordinator. A theme in the nomination letters was his care for students, cheerful demeanor, and outstanding Environmental Education programming for the tens of thousands of students who have learned at the Wausau School Forest.

Jerry was nominated by his successor, Chris Nelson. ​

PLAN AHEAD: Wheels to Woods grants available now

The Wheels to Woods (W2W) grant program is open for application to any Wisconsin school teacher. Review of grant applications for fall/winter trips will consider proposals submitted prior to September 15, 2023. Fall/winter grants will fund trips occurring between September 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024.

Visit the W2W web page for grant application, links to educational resources, and complete grant terms and timelines.

Wheels to Woods (W2W) program provides grants up to $350 to cover transportation costs to and from a forest or forestry industry educational field tour. This opportunity is available to any Wisconsin K-12 classroom, with priority funding for underrepresented student populations. Underrepresented populations can mean, but are not limited to, people of diverse color, culture, gender, age, and economic status.

The Wisconsin Society of American Foresters (WI-SAF) Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee, with support from the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers (WSST), has established this grant program to provide opportunities to increase recruitment of a diverse workforce within the broad realm of forestry.

PLAN AHEAD: DNR Preliminary Seedling Availability for Spring 2024

Per the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Reforestation Program:

Proper tree planting requires a lot of decision making. One of the most crucial decisions to make is which species and age are the most appropriate and cost-effective to plant. The DNR Reforestation Program is taking some of the unknowns out of that process by giving landowners and property managers an early peek at the seedlings we anticipate having available in fall 2023 for planting in spring 2024.

The list is preliminary, as some species may be added, adjusted or removed depending on health, growth and other factors as the growing season progresses.

The listed tree and shrub seedlings will be available to purchase starting Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. The DNR expects high demand, but anticipates having a variety of species and ages available.

FREE REGISTRATION: Forest History Conference

The Forest History Association of Wisconsin (FHAW) will host its 2023 Annual Conference in Tomah this fall, focusing on the topic “The Military’s Role in Wisconsin’s Forest History.” 

They are offering a limited number of free registrations for teachers to attend the main day of the conference, on Friday Oct. 6th.

Friday’s conference agenda includes talks covering the history of Fort McCoy, Army forestry operations, Fort McCoy’s role with the Civilian Conservation Corps and World War Two POWs, and research related to forest resources and the armed forces.

To apply for one of the free registrations, email Nicole.Filizetti@uwsp.edu with “FHAW Conference Registration” in the subject line. Participating teachers will also have the option to register for the Friday dinner and Saturday tours for an additional cost. Contact Nicole with questions about those optional add-ons.

LAST CHANCE: Forestry careers interpretive trail

Are you looking for a unique way to introduce your students to the broad range of careers related to forests?

The Forest Exploration Center in Wauwatosa  has recently installed interpretive trail signage based on Project Learning Trees “Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers” curriculum. Each sign on the trail features a different job in the forest sector and engaging activities to help visitors experience the on-the-job tasks performed by forest professionals.

Signs will be on display through the fall, allowing for a meaningful “back to school” field trip! 

In celebration of this trail, educators in CESA 1 can still apply for free registration in LEAF’s “Teaching About Careers in the Forest” online course.

THANK YOU! School Forest Summit was a success!

Thank you to all the attendees, presenters and organizers whose hard worked made LEAF's Wisconsin School Forest Summit, held this past July, a success.

Special thanks to Russ Noland and the Friends of Merrill School Forest for hosting us.

We're not sure yet if this will be an annual event or may rotate between Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. One thing is for sure, you'll be able to read about whatever we decide here in the LEAFlet!

Contact Us! 

Have questions or need additional resources? Contact us at leaf@uwsp.edu. We are here to support educators and students with forestry opportunities.

Published for August 2023