Tree Steward Journal

2024 Data overview

For Tree Steward Journal (TSJ) there were 10 volunteers with complete journals representing 11 sites across multiple types of landscapes (rural woodlands, urban, suburban and rural yards and parks). Common stewardship goals by percent for participants were: invasive species management (33%), increasing biodiversity (27%), and tied at 20% were ecosystem restoration and forest improvement.

There were an amazing 35 different species represented in these journals from a total of 1136 reported trees.
Maybe not surprisingly the largest percentage of reported trees are commonly found in trade: white pine (56%), white spruce (6.6%), serviceberry (5.5%), sugar maple (3.7%), red pine (2.7%), tamarack (2.6%) and eastern redbud (2.2%) being the most frequent species. One site was excluded from the above data because it had 85% of the total trees, most of which were red pine!
Common themes: deer browse is a major concern (56% - there were several folks that put a lot of time and attention into how to limit deer browse with various types of fences and tree tubes), drought (22% - so we’re adding a local weather question to the 2025 journal), disease and wind were both concerns at 11% each.
Maybe not surprising to my urban forestry colleagues but cages, fences and tubes to limit deer browse seemed beneficial, bud capping didn’t work as well as hoped and mulch seemed helpful.

2025 updates

Great news! We're recruiting participants and planning for a robust next few years because on July 1, 2025... Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR)!

As a result we'll be moving our web content to the UFOR lab this summer and have gotten a slow start to issuing slightly improved 2025 Tree Steward Journal Google Documents. Angie Gupta, agupta@umn.edu, should have the new individualized Google Docs to all volunteers registered for this project by mid-August. This will give you plenty of time to write in your journals by the end of 2025. Thanks for understanding!

About the project

Climate scientists with the USDA Forest Service have identified a number of species with the potential for migration into new regions as the climate continues to shift. However, many people may already be experimenting with planting these species outside of their normal range.

If you have planted any of the species indicated on the migration potential list for your area, we would like to learn from you! There is a great deal that is unknown about these species in Minnesota, and your information could help researchers fill in vital knowledge gaps.

Volunteers who join the project will be asked to fill out a "tree journal" — an open-ended survey with questions about your site location and conditions, tree species and management, and observations about tree and ecosystem health.

Follow the steps below to join the project and help gather critical data for researchers to assess the survival, health and ecological interactions of these trees in Minnesota.

Get involved

Step 1: Review the species of interest for your region

Become familiar with the list of migration potential species for your ecoregion to find out if you have any of the species listed for your region planted on your property.

Step 2: Register for the project

Registering for the project allows us to communicate with you about the project, ask follow up questions, and send you information on other volunteer opportunities. Please tell us a bit about yourself in this short form (make sure to click "Submit" when you're finished).

Step 3: Record stewardship information

After you register for the project, Extension forester Angie Gupta will send you a personalized “tree journal” document for you to record observations and stewardship activities for the migration potential trees on your property.

Questions or comments? Contact Angela Gupta, agupta@umn.edu

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