Got Nature? Blog

A well-managed woodland can promote wildlife diversity and forest health. Two of the more common techniques that we use are single-tree selection and patch-cut harvesting. Used together in the long term, these two techniques will create trees of multiple generations or different age trees within the same woodland. In this video, Purdue Wildlife Extension Specialist Brian MacGowan will talk about what these two techniques are, what trees they help grow and how wildlife species respond to them.

If you have any questions regarding wildlife, trees, forest management, wood products, natural resource planning or other natural resource topics, feel free to contact us by using our Ask an Expert web page.

Resources
Woodland Stewardship For Landowners, Playlist, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) YouTube Channel
Woodland Management Moment, Purdue Extension – FNR Playlist
Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment: Uneven-aged Management, Purdue Extension – FNR Video
Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment: Even-aged Management, Purdue Extension – FNR Video
Forest Improvement Handbook, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center

Brian MacGowan, Wildlife Extension Specialist & Extension Coordinator
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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In this edition of ID That Tree, we introduce you to the cucumber magnolia. This native Indiana species is much like other members of the magnolia family, except it has green cucumber like fruit and a unique bark. Learn more from Purdue Extension forester Lenny Farlee.

If you have any questions regarding wildlife, trees, forest management, wood products, natural resource planning or other natural resource topics, feel free to contact us by using our Ask an Expert web page.

Resources
Indiana’s Native Magnolias, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Cucumber Magnolia, Native Trees of Indiana River Walk, Purdue Fort Wayne
Magnolia Acuminata, The Purdue Arboretum Explorer
ID That Tree, Purdue Extension – Forestry & Natural Resources Playlist
A Woodland Management Moment, Playlist
Investing in Indiana Woodlands, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Forest Improvement Handbook, The Education Store

Lenny Farlee, Sustaining Hardwood Extension Specialist
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resource

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Join this Ask An Expert Live session and Learn how to actively plan for your pond, instead of just fixing problems as they arise. What can you be doing now to get ready for spring?

Date: February 4th, 2021
Time: 3 p.m. EST.
Speaker: Dr. Mitch Zischke, Clinical Assistant Professor, Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources, and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist; Dave Osborne, Ripley County Extension Director
Contact: Diana Evans, Extension and Web Communications Specialist, evans44@purdue.edu

For the Facebook live link and more information, visit Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources Facebook event page.

Resources
Ask The Expert: Pond Wildlife Management, Video, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources YouTube channel
Pond Management: Managing Fish Populations, The Education Store, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources
Pond Management: Stocking Fish in Indiana Ponds, The Education Store
A Pond Management Plan Template, The Education Store
Indiana Pond Fish, Species Identification Card Set, The Education Store
Best Practices Guide for Charter Fishing and COVID-19, The Education Store
Purdue Extension Pond and Wildlife Management, Website

Mitch Zischke, Clinical Assistant Professor
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Purdue Extension forester Lenny Farlee introduces you to the American Basswood. He shares about how to identify this species, where you might find them and common uses.

If you have any questions regarding trees, forests, wildlife, wood products or other natural resource topics, feel free to contact us by using our Ask an Expert web page.

Resources
FNR Hardwood – American Basswood, The Purdue Arboretum Explorer
Tilia Americana, The Purdue Arboretum Explorer
Basswood, Native Trees of Indiana River Walk, Purdue – Fort Wayne
ID That Tree, Playlist, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources Youtube Channel
A Woodland Management Moment, Playlist, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources Youtube Channel
Investing in Indiana Woodlands, The Education Store
Tree Appraisal and the Value of Trees, The Education Store
Forest Improvement Handbook, The Education Store

Lenny Farlee, Sustaining Hardwood Extension Specialist
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Join this edition of Ask an Expert video series with Dr. Joy O’Keefe and PhD candidate Elizabeth Beilke as they share about their studies of bats on the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment.

The HEE is in its initial stages and is planned as a 100-year project. Data were collected for two years prior to the first round of timber harvests and inventories have been conducted annually since, allowing us to quantify the varied responses of plants and animals to active forest management. This data will ultimately be used to develop management prescriptions that provide for resilient and sustainable managed forest ecosystems in Indiana.

If you have any questions regarding trees, forests, wildlife, wood products or other natural resource topics, feel free to contact us by using our Ask an Expert web page.

Resources
Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment (HEE) Highlights: Bats, Video, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources YouTube Channel
Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment (HEE), Playlist, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources
Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment, Website
Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment – Wildlife Responses to Timber Harvesting, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources
The Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment: Indiana Forestry and Wildlife, The Education Store
Ask An Expert: Bats on the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment, Video, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources Facebook
Bats in Indiana, Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)
Bat Houses, Bat Conservation International

Joy O’Keefe, Assistant professor and Wildlife Extension Specialist,
University of Illinois (Champaign) Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

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Purdue extension forester Lenny Farlee introduces you to the red elm, or slippery elm. He shares about how to identify the red elm and also how to differentiate it from its relative, the American elm.

If you have any questions regarding trees, forests, wildlife, wood products or other natural resource topics, feel free to contact us by using our Ask an Expert web page.

Resources
Elm, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Slippery Elm, Native Trees of Indiana River Walk, Purdue – Fort Wayne
ID That Tree, Playlist, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) Youtube Channel
A Woodland Management Moment, Playlist, Purdue Extension – FNR Youtube Channel
Investing in Indiana Woodlands, The Education Store
Tree Appraisal and the Value of Trees, The Education Store
Forest Improvement Handbook, The Education Store

Lenny Farlee, Sustaining Hardwood Extension Specialist
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Purdue Extension forester Lenny Farlee brings another new video to the ID That Tree series. Enjoy the gorgeous red fall color of the black gum on this special fall foliage edition of ID That Tree.

If you have any questions regarding wildlife, trees, forest management, wood products, natural resource planning or other natural resource topics, feel free to contact us by using our Ask an Expert web page.

Resources
Black Gum and Tupelo, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Fall Color Pigments, Video, Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources
Black Gum/Tupelo, Native Trees of Indiana River Walk, Purdue Fort Wayne
Black Gum & Tupelo, Purdue Arboretum Explorer
ID That Tree, Playlist
A Woodland Management Moment, Playlist
Investing in Indiana Woodlands, The Education Store
Tree Appraisal and the Value of Trees, The Education Store
Forest Improvement Handbook, The Education Store

Lenny Farlee, Sustaining Hardwood Extension Specialist
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resource

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Join Purdue Extension forester Lenny Farlee and extension wildlife specialist Brian MacGowan with another new video added to the Ask an Expert YouTube Playlist. This episode of Ask an Expert covers everything from the change in fall foliage to invasive species identification and control, fall foods for humans and wildlife, habitat prep and management and planning ahead for spring plantings.

If you have any questions regarding trees, forest management, wildlife, wood products or other natural resource topics, feel free to contact us by using our Ask an Expert web page.

Resources
Ask An Expert, Playlist, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) Youtube channel
A Woodland Management Moment, FNR Playlist
Woodland Stewardship for Landowners, FNR Playlist
Invasive Species, FNR Playlist
Fall Color Pigments, FNR Video
Wildlife Habitat Education Program – Teaching and Learning Wildlife Management Practices, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
What Nurseries Need to Know About the Invasive Species Regulation, The Education Store
Invasive plants: impact on environment and people, The Education Store

Lenny Farlee, Sustaining Hardwood Extension Specialist
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resource

Brian MacGowan, Extension Wildlife Specialist
Department of Forestry & Natural Resources, Purdue University

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MyDNR – Indiana’s Outdoor News, Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR): The Natural Resources Commission (NRC) recently removed the bald eagle from Indiana’s list of state endangered and special concern species due to evidence of successful recovery.

The recovery of the bald eagle is one of the greatest conservation success stories in Indiana. Habitat loss, the hat-making trade, and persecution once caused dramatic declines in eagle numbers, leading to the last eagle nest being found in Indiana in 1897. Nationwide, bald eagle populations continued to decline throughout the 1950s and 60s because pesticides, like DDT, interfered with their ability to reproduce.

A combination of legislative changes and conservation efforts put bald eagles on the road to recovery. The U.S. Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act in 1940 to prevent the killing of bald eagles. DDT was banned nationwide in 1972. In 1973, bald eagles were one of the first species listed as federally endangered under the Endangered Species Act. State agencies began restoration efforts to meet conservation goals for eagles as a result of this listing.

Indiana DNR reintroduced bald eagles to the state from 1985–1989. During this time, 73 eaglets from Wisconsin and Alaska were raised and released at Monroe Lake to restore a breeding population in Indiana. The first successful nesting occurred in 1991.

By 2007, the U.S. national symbol was declared recovered and removed from the federal endangered species list. Indiana followed suit in 2008, upgrading the bald eagle from a state-endangered species to a species of special concern after reaching a goal of 50 nesting pairs. This was a significant achievement—no eagles were known to have nested in the state from around 1900–1988.

In just 35 years, the bald eagle went from extirpated in Indiana to a thriving population statewide. This year, biologists estimated Indiana supported about 300 nesting pairs across 84 counties. In the last five years, at least one bald eagle nest has been documented in 88 of Indiana’s 92 counties. Chick production was also up by 11% from 2019 to 2020.

The bald eagle reintroduction program was the first endangered species restoration project in Indiana. This project and ongoing research would not be possible without donations to the Indiana Nongame Wildlife Fund, the main funding source of all nongame and endangered species research and management.

You can donate to this fund online.

Although bald eagles are no longer listed as an endangered species, they remain protected by other state and federal laws, including the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. If you see bald eagles in Indiana, observe the birds, their nests, and roosts from a distance of 330 feet, which is roughly the length of a football field. Photography enthusiasts should take photos of eagles with a telephoto lens instead of getting close to them. All should foster a climate of respect for wildlife by sharing these guidelines with friends.

Learn more about bald eagles at Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

To subscribe for the monthly newsletter view: MyDNR Email Newsletter.

Resources
Bald Eagles, Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)
​Bald Eagle Breeding Season Is Upon Us, Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources
Breeding Birds and Forest Management: the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment and the Central Hardwoods Region, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center

Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)

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In this video, Purdue Extension wildlife specialist Jarred Brooke describes a point source fire. The igniters will light points or spots of fire and thus create less intense fire behavior than a strip head fire.

If you have any questions regarding wildlife, trees, forest management, wood products, natural resource planning or other natural resource topics, feel free to contact us by using our Ask an Expert web page.

Resources
Wildlife Habitat Hint, Playlist, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resouces YouTube channel
Wildlife Habitat Hint: Late Growing Season Prescribed Fire, Video
Renovating Native Warm-Season Grass Stands for Wildlife: A Land Manager’s Guide, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Prescribed fire: 6 things to consider before you ignite, Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension – 4Forestry and Natural Resources

Jarred Brooke, Wildlife Extension Specialist
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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