Wisconsin Forestry Center
February 2026 Newsletter
| | Webinar: Turning the Heat Up on Ticks | |
March 5 | 1-2 p.m. CST | Online via Zoom
Presented by Sam Gilvig, M.S., NREMT, Ph.D. Student, Applied Forest & Fire Ecology Lab, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
During the free webinar, Turning the Heat Up on Ticks, learn how prescribed fire can reduce tick populations and help lower the risk of tick-borne disease. This free webinar explores how fire affects ticks directly and indirectly, influences wildlife hosts, and can be applied through a One Health approach to support public health. Registration not required. This workshop is designed for LIFE members, nature enthusiasts, and landowners.
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WFCC Partners Meeting & 2025 Annual Report | | The Wisconsin Forestry Center hosted a Partners Meeting of the Wisconsin Forestry Careers Coalition (WFCC) on Monday, January 12 at our Treehaven field station. We shared our updates from 2025, from our workforce development trainings to our professional development series, high school curriculum work, and more. We also presented new delivery options for our Forest Operations Immersion training and the partners provided valuable feedback that we will incorporate moving forward. Partners from across the industry shared insights on the evolving needs of the forestry and forest products industries, and how the WFC can best support them. | | |
We're grateful to all the partners who comprise this coalition, and look forward to our next meeting in June! | | | High School Forestry Skills Camp: Applications now open! | |
Thinking about a career in the forest industry, or know of a high school student who might be? We are pleased to announce that applications are now open for our next offering of the Forestry Skills Camp!
This is an immersive training experience for high school students in which you can choose the path that interests you the most! Paths include Forest Measurement & Management, Forest Products, and Chainsaw Safety & Operation. Each focus area will be taught by professionals in the industry, allowing you to learn more about the careers that are available in forestry and forest products.
The first two days of camp will be spent completing training in wilderness first aid, then the following three days will be spent immersed in the path you chose. This camp is designed to build real skills used in the forest industries and each path will provide one forestry credit at UWSP.
Forestry Skills Camp takes place June 14-19, 2026 at the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station, in Amherst Junction, WI. Apply by March 27, 2026.
| | Wood & Iron Podcast: For Loggers. By Loggers | | |
We are excited to share the first episode of our new logging podcast is now live! Wood & Iron explores the needs and challenges of today’s logger. Join our hosts as we explore business operation, policy navigation, and the future of logging with loggers from the Midwest to the West. The goal of Wood & Iron is to promote a successful and sustainable logging workforce by offering relevant and timely information that you can listen to during your time in the cab.
Produced by UWSP and hosted by WFC’s High School Program Manager Jared Schroeder and Manley Jobs host and Western Forestry and Conservation Association executive director Blake Manley, Wood & Iron is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, and many other platforms.
Want to advertise your product, company, or organization on Wood & Iron? Sponsor a season or an episode! If you are interested, reach out to wfc@uwsp.edu.
| | Prescribed Fire for Forest Management | | Tree-Ring Fire-Scar History of the Upper Great Lakes | |
April 1 | Noon-1 p.m. CT
Presented by Kurt Kipfmueller, Ph.D., Michigan State University and Lane Johnson, Ph.D., Cloquet Forestry Center, University of Minnesota
| | Tree-Ring Fire-Scar History of the Northeastern U.S. | |
May 6 | Noon-1 p.m. CT
Presented by Chris Guiterman, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder
| | How Tree-Ring Fire-Scar History Informs Prescribed Fire Application | |
June 3 | Noon-1 p.m. CT
Presented by Jed Meunier, Ph.D., Ecologist and Research Scientist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources-Division of Forestry
| | SilviCast Podcast: The Restoration Forester | | |
Foresters know degraded forests all too well. You’re out on a woods-walk with an enthusiastic landowner, but your eyes go straight to the poor growing stock, invasive plants, and eroded forest soils – the fingerprints of past degradation. Regardless, you set about the complex task of developing a prescription that will nudge this forest towards a brighter future. Foresters don’t always think of themselves as restorationists, but in many ways, the tools of silviculture are the tools of restoration. In this episode of SilviCast, we dive into the science and practice of forest restoration with Dr. John Stanturf, visiting professor at the Estonian University of Life Sciences and Senior Forest Restoration Specialist with InNovaSilva. With more than 30 years of experience researching forest restoration in both temperate and tropical forests around the world, John brings a global perspective to the question of what it means to restore a forest.
| | | This episode of SilviCast is sponsored by: | | CHECK OUT PREVIOUS EPISODES | | Continuing Education Credits | | The WFC offers a variety of continuing education options, such as online on-demand courses. They are pre-approved for SAF and WI-DNR Cooperating Forester credits. | | |
Looking for the next step in your forestry career or your next hire? Check out our free forestry jobs board.
Job seekers: Check out current full-time, part-time, and seasonal positions across all forestry sectors.
Employers: Get the word out about your job openings by sending them to the WFC.
| | | Do you have workshop or training ideas that you want the WFC to explore? | | | | |  | |
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