- (Focus Area) Environment
- Author: Grace Nguyen-Sovan Dean
“We have a responsibility now that we own a piece of land,” shared Antonio, a new forest landowner who attended this year's inaugural California Tree School with his partner. “It's important to take care of it.”
A unique ‘one-stop-shop' for forestry education based upon the OSU Extension model, California Tree School was piloted this year in both Mendocino and El Dorado counties. Open tonew and experienced forest landowners, those who work in forestry, and those who simply love being in the forest, this mini-college experience had participants take up to four classes of their choice, taught by local, trusted natural resource professionals. With overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants, it's clear that CA Tree School was not only an event that the community currently needed, but one they would return to next year.
Antonio joined 50 other forest landowners, community members, and professionals to learn the ins and outs of managing oak woodlands at the UC ANR Hopland REC CA Tree School. The second CA Tree School was held at the Folsom Lake College's El Dorado Center campus and offered an adjusted slate of classes to reflect the differing forest type. Combined, the two sessions served nearly 100 community members, and included 32 classes taught by 21 instructors from UC ANR, the U.S. Forest Service, CALFIRE, and the CA RCD.
The information forest landowners seek will often differ based on environmental circumstances and personal goals. CA Tree School allowed landowners like Antonio the opportunity to learn the basics of forest stewardship, while experienced landowners like father-daughter duo Erica and Allen could dive deep into topics like tree diseases and forest taxation. “Tree Damagers of Northwest California was the best class; my father and I thought that instructor Chris Lee (CALFIRE) was extremely knowledgeable,” Erica remarked after the event. “It gave us a lot of food for thought and things to look for on the property.”
“We came away from Tree School with a definite understanding of what stewardship meant. I wanted more time in each session!” added Antonio.
Participating in unique educational opportunities such as CA Tree School is necessary for stewards of forestland and can yield benefits for those working with forest landowners or in natural resource fields seeking professional development. CA Tree School included a mix of both, with 42 landowners and 39 natural resource professionals in attendance overall. Other participants included college and high school students interested in forestry as a career.
With CA Tree School being a space for tree enthusiasts all around, many participants found themselves surrounded by others who could relate to their worries, management goals, and passions. Rebekah attended for professional development, and reflected that where she works, “People think they are the only ones doing this type of work. It was cool to meet other people maximizing the functionality of their ecosystems and putting time into management.”
A diversity of participant backgrounds also led to lively discussions during classes, an observation shared by El Dorado session instructor Martin MacKenzie. MacKenzie is a forest pathologist with the U.S. Forest Service and noticed that students in his Forest Pathology classes had wide-ranging questions and were happy to share their knowledge with others. “Teaching at CA Tree School was excellent,” MacKenzie said. “The audience of students wanted to be there, and they wanted to learn.”
Between discussions on prescribed fire and learning how to map forest features, CA Tree School students connected with representatives from local organizations at the Exhibitor Fair. Exposing landowners to the resources within their community is a crucial aspect of the existing Forest Stewardship Workshop program, and CA Tree School would be no different. Exhibitors included staff from CALFIRE's Jackson Demonstration State Forest, Forest Landowners of California, the American River Conservancy, American Forests, the UC ANR Fire Network, UC Master Food Preservers, and UC ANR Environmental Stewards.
Sierra Riker represented the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts at the El Dorado session and noted: “My position with CARCD generally does not interact with the public very often, so being able to chat with the landowners that RCDs serve really helped to demonstrate on a deeper level what RCDs do.”
“I'm excited to help create a positive learning environment,” stated Forest Stewardship Academic Coordinator Kim Ingram when preparing for the event. Providing new, accessible forms of forest stewardship education is crucial for Californians living in forested areas, and CA Tree School provided a breadth of options for landowners at every stage of their stewardship journey.
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- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So here's this immature praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, in a Vacaville pollinator garden.
She's camouflaged quite well. She's as green and thin as the leaves.
Me: "Hey, Ms. Mantis, whatcha doin'?"
Ms. Mantis: "Just occupying a spot on this milkweed. Catching some sun, is all."
Me: "Hoping to catch a monarch, Ms. Mantis?"
Ms. Mantis: "No, no, of course not. I would never, ever, catch a monarch! You know me!"
Me: "I do know you. Promise you won't nail a monarch?"
Ms. Mantis: "Sorry, I can't promise if I'm hungry. Now, go away, you're disrupting my choice of menu items."
Me: "How about a stink bug or a lygus bug?"
Ms. Mantis: "I don't take menu orders. What do you think I am? DoorDash? Go away!"
Me: "Hey, I see a katydid nymph over there!"
Ms. Mantis: "Where, where? How far?"
Me: (Pointing to a lower leaf) "Over there!"
With that, Ms. Mantis slipped off the blossom, never to be seen again.
Epilogue: The California scrub jays noisily nesting in the cherry laurel hedges may have snagged a Stagmomantis mantis meal.
They don't take orders, either.
![A camouflaged praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A camouflaged praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107524.jpg)
![Praying mantis perched on a milkweed, the host plant for monarchs. She seems to be saying: Praying mantis perched on a milkweed, the host plant for monarchs. She seems to be saying:](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107525.jpg)
![The mantis keeps an eye out for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) The mantis keeps an eye out for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107526.jpg)
![The mantis assumes the prayerful position--let us prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) The mantis assumes the prayerful position--let us prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107527.jpg)
The Nutrition Policy Institute is seeking a University of California graduate student fellow to join our efforts to improve food and nutrition security among currently and formerly incarcerated individuals in California. This fellowship opportunity is part of the 2024-2025 UC Bonnie Reiss Climate Action Fellowship Program, which supports the UC's climate goals by reducing greenhouse gas emission and establishing climate programs and policies centered on equity, sustainability, and resiliency. In addition to working with the NPI Farm to Corrections project team, fellows will participate in UC systemwide activities. This fellowship is a 10-month commitment from September 2024 – July 2025. Fellows will receive a $5,000 stipend. Applications are due by July 31, 2024. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Thought for the day...
Every time we see a honey bee "posing perfectly" on a Gaillardia, commonly known as blanket flower, we think of a quote by internationally known honey bee geneticist, Robert E. Page Jr., a UC Davis doctoral alumnus and professor and chair emeritus of the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology):
"The impact of bees on our world is immeasurable. Bees are responsible for the evolution of the vast array of brightly-colored flowers and for engineering the niches of multitudes of plants, animals, and microbes. They've painted our landscapes with flowers through their pollination activities and have evolved the most complex societies to aid their exploitation of the environment."
That's a passage from his book, The Art of the Bee.It's also featured on his YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/@artofthebee.
Rob obtained his doctorate in entomology in 1980 from UC Davis; joined the UC Davis faculty in 1989; and chaired the Department of Entomology from 1999 to 2004. After retiring from UC Davis in 2004, he accepted an appointment at Arizona State University (ASU) as founding director of the School of Life Sciences. He served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2011-2013, and provost of ASU from 2013-2015. He is now emeritus. He was recently featured in Legends, American Entomologist. (See UC Davis Department of Entomology website)
Why did Page create the free and accessible-to-all YouTube Channel? Because that's what Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), known as a German geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science, would have done.
It's about making science understandable.
Check out Page's YouTube channel, including:
- Landscape Artists
- Environmental Engineers
- The Social Contract
- Superorganisms
- How to Make a Superorganism
- Song of the Queen
![A honey bee on a blanketflower, Gaillardia, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A honey bee on a blanketflower, Gaillardia, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107498.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So there it was, an exotic-looking bug resting against a freshly painted red bollard at a Vacaville supermarket.
It was not there to shop. Or to stop vehicles from crashing into the store or colliding with shoppers.
It was there, I suspect, because of the pheromone-like scent of the fresh paint.
What was it? A banded alder borer, Rosalia funebris, in the family Cerambycidae. It's a longhorned beetle with spectacular black, white and blue coloration.
Look closely and you'll see the dark elytra (wing covers) with white bands and a white thorax with a large black spot. What's really striking, though, are the long, black-and-white banded antennae. The male antennae are longer than its body.
The beetle "feeds during its larval stage in declining or dead branches of broadleaf trees, including alder, ash, California bay, oak, and willow," according to the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. "Longhorned beetles develop though four life stages—egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Adult banded alder borers emerge and mate from April through August. Adult females lay eggs individually on small- to medium-sized, dying or recently dead branches. The eggs hatch within 2 weeks and the larvae bore in and feed for 6 to 7 months under the bark. Mature larvae then bore in more deeply to overwinter as pupae. In the spring, pupae develop into adults, each of which chews an exit hole and emerges from the branch."
"The banded alder borer is the only species of this genus in North America, occurring from Alaska to southern California and in the Rocky Mountains from Idaho to New Mexico," according to Washington State University Extension.
However, scientists say it's not a significant pest because the females lay their eggs in downed, damaged or dead branches. The damage is not theirs. They're not the culprits!
You may never see a banded alder borer, but if you're painting a bollard (not going to happen!), your house, or some other structure, you might. Just enjoy its striking beauty!
![The banded alder borer is attracted to fresh paint, probably because of the phermone-like scent. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) The banded alder borer is attracted to fresh paint, probably because of the phermone-like scent. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107493.jpg)
![A banded alder borer, Rosalia funebris, crawls on a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A banded alder borer, Rosalia funebris, crawls on a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107494.jpg)
![Side view of the banded alder borer, Rosalia funebris. It's a longhorned beetle in the family Cerambycidae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Side view of the banded alder borer, Rosalia funebris. It's a longhorned beetle in the family Cerambycidae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107495.jpg)
![Eye to eye with a banded alder borer, Rosalia funebris. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Eye to eye with a banded alder borer, Rosalia funebris. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107496.jpg)