minnesota tree improvement cooperative

Minnesota Tree Improvement Cooperative

2014

Annual Report

Carrie Pike, Research Associate

Jim Warren,

Research Fellow

Andy David, Associate Professor

and Director

FULL MEMBERS

Beltrami County

Cass County

Crow Wing County

Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board

Koochiching County

Minnesota Department of

Natural Resources

Red Lake Nation

St. Louis County

University of Minnesota

Department of Forest

Resources

UPM-Blandin

SUPPORTING

MEMBERS

BIA

Carlton County

Clearwater County

Hedstrom Lumber Company

Hubbard County

Lake County

Minnesota Tree Improvement Cooperative, Annual Report for 2014 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Minnesota Tree Improvement Cooperative (MTIC) completed its 33rd year in 2014 with ten full members and six supporting members. Dues payments in the amount of $53,792 were collected, which included the contract with the Minnesota Department of

Natural Resources. Andrew David directed the MTIC, while Carrie Pike managed day to day operations. Jim Warren provided field and technological assistance and Egon

Humenberger provided field assistance on other projects as needed. One business meeting was held on March 19 at the Cloquet Forestry Center. One fall workshop on red oak

management was organized with Aitkin County Land department on October 1 near Malmo, MN.

In 2014, seventeen controlled crosses were completed on red pine, and ninety crosses were made on white pine. In total, 38 orchards were visited during the summer by MTIC

staff. Cones were collected from five conifer species (red pine, jack pine, white pine, white spruce, black spruce). A bumper cone crop was observed statewide on white pine. Ten-year

tree height and diameter measurements were completed on the white spruce second-generation populations (MN DNR Eaglehead - 2005, Lake County Ostman Pit and UPM Blandin Feeley). Pike and Warren installed and completed a second gravel bed experiment

at the Cloquet Forestry Center.

In 2015, we plan to complete work on silvicultural demonstration areas on sites managed by UPM Blandin and the MN DNR. Breeding values for all white spruce second-

generation genotypes will be calculated in early 2015. Cones that were pollinated in spring 2014 (white pine and red pine) will be harvested in 2015. Rootstock will be planted for future grafting for jack pine, red pine and hemlock. General Andrews nursery continues to

be transitioned to a tree improvement facility where we hope to continue grafting conifers for new advanced-generation orchards.


Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 1 A Letter from the Director .............................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Administration ................................................................................................................................ 5

Seed Orchards ........................................................................................................................... 11 Species Reports ............................................................................................................................. 17

Black spruce .............................................................................................................................. 17 White spruce ............................................................................................................................. 17 Jack pine.................................................................................................................................... 18

Red pine .................................................................................................................................... 19 White pine ................................................................................................................................. 19 Tamarack................................................................................................................................... 23

Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................... 23 Outlook ......................................................................................................................................... 26 2015 Cooperative Work Plan ........................................................................................................ 27 Advisory Committee ..................................................................................................................... 28


A LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

Dear Cooperative Members,

Reviewing the annual report for this year there are a couple of highlights to pass on. We had a large push in red pine and white pine breeding this year in anticipation of upcoming

advanced generation progeny tests. We should be able to collect the last of these cones in fall of 2015 and shortly thereafter start growing seedlings. The second generation white

spruce plantings have reached 10 years of age and were fully measured. Once the analysis is finished this year we can begin to make selections for third-generation orchards.

As a recently minted Ph.D. Carrie taught her first class, Conservation of Plant Biodiversity,

on St Paul campus, which was a rousing success. Also this fall we teamed up with the

Aitkin County Land Department to offer a field workshop on oak regeneration that was one of the ideas generated at the last annual meeting. It was well attended, very informative and

provided an opportunity to think about silviculture systems and genetics in natural stands.

People often ask me in this day and age of climate change if planting improved seedlings still makes sense. I always answer in the affirmative! Without a doubt, improved seedlings from our seed orchards are the best tested, most genetically diverse seedling that can be

planted on our forest lands. Furthermore both FSC and SFI accept artificial regeneration with improved seedlings if they come from known genetically diverse sources that have been

tested for adaptation to our local conditions. Your improved seedlings meet these qualifications while providing better growth rates, better stem form and better disease

resistance than natural regeneration or unimproved seedlings. They can be used as a stand-alone option for regenerating harvested areas, or in combination with natural regeneration or assisted migration to meet third party certification standards. If you have any questions

about these regeneration options feel free to contact me.

How will you use your improved seedlings this year?

Sincerely,

Andy David

Andrew David

Associate Professor Director MTIC


INTRODUCTION

The Minnesota Tree Improvement Cooperative (MTIC) completed its 33rd year of

operation in 2014. Andy David, Associate Professor, served as Director and Carrie Pike,

Research Associate, managed day to day operations. Jim Warren and Egon Humenburger

provided technical and field assistance. As part of Pike’s new position as Research

Associate, she taught ESPM 3101/5101, Conservation of Plant Biodiversity on Monday

afternoons in St Paul, fall semester. Andy David also continued his teaching responsibilities

in the fall semester.

The winter of 2014 was cold and snowy, making it the 9th coldest winter since 18731.

The delayed spring resulted in the latest date for spring road restrictions ever, which

impacted logging operations. Hunters registered 31,000 fewer deer in November 2014 than

in the previous year2, although the DNR’s final report is not yet posted. Fewer deer should

result in less browse on tree seedlings, but don’t pull off your bud-caps yet. The warmer,

and so far nearly snowless, winter of 2015 will likely speed their recovery. The winter

conditions also partially contributed to a shortage of stored aspen, prompting a call for

increased harvesting in fall 2014.

On the industry side: this year marked the 100th anniversary of Hedstrom lumber, a

significant milestone for this family-run operation, so make sure to congratulate Howard!

Our advisory committee members had some personnel changes: Jim Marshall retired from

his post at UPM Blandin and Cheryl Adams succeeded Jim. Beth Jacqmain, formerly of

Smartwood and a previous MTIC advisory committee member, joined Blandin’s team.

Greg Duwe will represent Blandin on the advisory committee. Finally, Mark Pannkuk of St

Louis County Land Department shifted duties and has delegated tree improvement work to

Rob Benson. We will miss Mark, but undoubtedly will pester him for information since he

managed the St Louis county orchard complex for nearly 20 years.

Forest health issues for the year included a climb in gypsy moth trap counts along the

north shore. On a positive note, the emerald ash borer has not been identified northwest of

Superior, WI – yet. We know its arrival is pending. Topping the list of unwelcomed novel

1 http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/climate/journal/coldest_winters.html

2 http://blogs.twincities.com/outdoors/2014/11/18/minnesota-deer-hunting-harvest-well-last-years-pace/


critters: mountain pine beetle. It may soon enter our state, unless the new quarantine,

effective January 1, 2015, keeps them from entering our backyard from points west. Lastly,

in 2014 the comment period for listing the northern long-eared bat for endangered species

status has been a continuous topic for forest managers, and the subject of several high-

profile webinars and meetings. The bat’s populations have been decimated by white-nosed

fungus in other states, so federal protection could potentially limit summer harvests in their

roosting habitats.

In University of Minnesota departmental news: Dr. Eli Sagor was hired to manage

the Sustainable Forests Education Cooperative (SFEC), and Julie Hendrickson now

provides full time program support to the SFEC. Dr. Tony D’Amato departed for a new

appointment at the University of Vermont at the end of 2014. Interviews are being

conducted in early 2015 to replace his position. Dr. Matthew Russell started work in

August as an Assistant Professor/Extension Specialist in Forest Ecosystem Health in the

Department of Forest Resources, based at St Paul.

This report summarizes activities and accomplishments from January 1 to December

31, 2014. It is organized into five major sections: Administration, Finances, Seed Orchards,

Species Reports, and Outlook.

ADMINISTRATION

The advisory committee, consisting of representatives from each member

organization, formally met once on March 19, 2014 at the Cloquet Forestry Center. A fall

workshop was organized in conjunction with Aitkin County land department on October 1.

This workshop focused on red oak management and was coordinated and funded by the

MTIC (costs were limited to refreshments and satellite toilet). The tour was led by Bob

Kangas, forester with Aitkin County, who inspired us to consider different management

strategies for red oak. Kudos to Bob for an outstanding presentation – even the steady rain

could not dampen his enthusiasm!

In research news: Carrie and Jim installed a second study to test the effects of soil

media (gravel vs sand) on above- and below-ground growth of bur oak and white spruce.

This is part of a larger project with Dr. Mike Reichenbach (Extension Educator) and Dr.


Gary Johnson (Extension Professor) on the use of gravel beds as a regeneration medium for

urban plantings. The LCCMR proposal we submitted in 2014 was not funded, so we are

developing a new proposal in 2015 with additional collaborators and a revised set of

objectives.

Carrie and Jim attended the International Union of Forest Research Organizations

(IUFRO) Forest Tree Breeders meeting in Prague, Czech Republic in August. Carrie

attended an oak field tour with the MN DNR in Lewiston on September 11, winter and fall

meetings of SAF in Walker and Cloquet, respectively.

Presentations

Pike, Carrie, R. A. Montgomery, J. Warren. April 17, 2014. Effects of artificial warming during quiescence on bud-break and growth of white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench)

Voss. Lakehead University, Thunder Bay. Seminar for faculty and students.

Pike, Carrie, R. Montgomery, J. Warren. August 26 2014. Early-season phenology impacts

growth patterns in improved and wild sources of white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench)

Voss. Prague, Czech Republic. IUFRO Forest Tree Breeding meeting.

Pike, Carrie and R. Montgomery. August 28 2014. Phenotypic and genetic correlations among tree volume, wood specific gravity and foliar traits in white spruce, Picea

glauca (Moench) Voss and implications for selection. Prague, Czech Republic.

IUFRO Forest Tree Breeding meeting.

3Pike, Carrie, M.Reinikainen, A. Stefanski, J. Zobel, and Jim Warren. August 29 2014. Growth potential of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) for reforestation in the lake states

region of the USA. Prague, Czech Republic. IUFRO Forest Tree Breeding meeting.

3 Poster presentation


Seed Orchards

In the past 33 years, MTIC members have planted over 125,000 trees in 77 orchards.

Of those, 32,000 trees in 59 orchards remain. Members maintain 132 acres of seed orchards

for five improved conifer species, and a seed production area for tamarack (Table 5). The

MN DNR continues to convert the facility at General Andrews Nursery into a tree

improvement center. Nursery beds are being reserved for future use that could include

improved jack pine, red pine, and white pine improved for rust resistance. The DNR will

likely field-graft a red pine orchard in the future as well.

Carlton County is planning to establish a hemlock seed collection area at the

Gillogly Rd. complex. Their objective is to graft selections from the hemlock ravine in Jay

Cooke State Park onto rootstock for conservation. In fall 2014, the orchard was cleared and

fenced to protect trees from deer and rabbit browse. Rootstock will be planted in spring

2015. Field grafting could begin as early as spring 2016.

Table 6 summarizes the history of MTIC orchards by type, and number of

genotypes. Forty eight percent of orchards are grown from seed, the remainder are grafted.

Figure 1 shows the percent of orchard acreage that each species occupies in the MTIC

program. The current status of all Picea orchards is shown in Table 7. MTIC members

maintain 24 Picea orchards for seed collection averaging 2.5 acres in size. Eight of these are

black spruce orchards with 6,000 trees and sixteen are white spruce orchards with 6,000

trees. Current Pinus and Larix orchards are shown in Table 8. All ‘active’ research trials

related directly to the MTIC are shown in Table 9.

Table 5. Acres of seed orchard by species and orchard type.

Orchard Type Black

spruce

White

spruce

Jack

pine

Red

pine

White

pine Tamarack

Total

acreage

First Generation Clonal 8 16 --- --- 11 --- 35

First Generation Seedling Seed 5 --- 24 26 --- 4 63

Improved First Generation Clonal --- 15 --- 3 --- --- 13

Second Generation Full Sib 4 11 6 --- --- --- 21

Total acreage by species 17 42 30 29 11 4 132


Table 6. Summary of all orchards planted in the history of the MTIC

Black

Spruce

Jack

pine

Red

pine

White

pine

White

spruce Tamarack Totals

Number of orchards 9 20 11 9 27 1 77

Number of orchards in use

8 11 8 8 23 1 59

Number of genotypes

after roguing 474 795 214 461 444 8 2,396

Percent genotypes remaining

78 86 69 94 70 100 Avg:

83%

Number of trees

and/or positions planted

17,158 46,059 24,034 3,704 32,447 2,010 125,412

Number of living trees

5,890 5,299 1,747 1,856 15,391 1,795 31,978

Percent trees remaining

34 12 7 50 47 89 Avg:

40%

13

32

23

22

8

3

Black spruce

White spruce

Jack pine

Red pine

White pine

Tamarack

Figure 1. Species composition (percentage, by area) of orchards and seed production areas in the MTIC.


Table 7. Picea spp seed orchards actively managed by the MTIC.

Species Orchard Type Organization Planting Date PlantedSize

(ac)

Live

Trees

Minnesota DNR Eaglehead 5/17/1978 2.7 487

UPM-Blandin Blackberry 5/22/1978 2.5 596

U of M CFC Plantation "U" 5/22/1978 2.5 3,168

1st Gen. Clonal U of M CFC Airport 40 5/1/1995 1.1 238

Koochiching

CountyBig Falls 5/19/1989 2.3 79

Koochiching

CountyDitch 7 5/27/1998 4.0 59

Minnesota DNR Sturgeon Lake 5/1/1979 1.3 812

Minnesota DNR Split Rock 5/27/1992 2.4 262

Totals: 8 Orchards 18.8 5,701

Lake County Two Harbors 9/2/1987 1.0 183

Minnesota DNR Cotton 5/1/1977 12.0 206

Minnesota DNR E3 5/12/2012 2.5 172

Minnesota DNR E4 5/12/2012 2.8 192

St. Louis County Ellsburg Rd. 5/11/1988 1.5 189

UPM-Blandin Arbo 5/1/1976 1.5 121

Carlton County Gillogly Road 4/1/2003 2.1 122

Minnesota DNR Split Rock 9/2/2001 3.7 209

Red Lake Redby 4/1/2004 0.9 125

UPM-Blandin College 9/5/2000 2.9 762

Lake County Ostman Pit Road 6/6/2005 1.3 809

Itasca County Wabana Lake 5/20/2003 1.8 693



St. Louis County Ellsburg Rd. East 6/6/2003 2.1 368

UPM-Blandin Feeley 5/1/2005 2.4 1,531


1-1/2 Gen.

Clonal

2nd Gen.

Seedling

White

spruce

Black

spruce

1st Gen.

Seedling

Improved 1st

Gen. Clonal

1st Gen. Clonal


Table 8. Pinus spp and Larix laricina orchards actively managed by the MTIC.

Species Orchard Type Organization Planting Date Planted Size (ac) Live Trees

Carlton County Gillogly Rd. 28-Jun-83 5.5 183

Crow Wing

CountyCrow Wing 04-Jun-85 2.1 247

Iron Range

ResourcesCalumet 16-Sep-82 1.7 220

Minnesota DNR Longprairie 18-May-84 4.0 465

Minnesota DNR Nickerson 15-May-84 2.4 387

Red Lake Nation Redby 29-Apr-87 1.8 516

St. Louis County Ellsburg Rd. 10-May-88 1.6 279

Crow Wing Co. /

MN DNRCounty Line 01-May-99 2.6 679

St. Louis / Iron

Range Resources

Ellsburg Rd.

East12-May-99 3.8 936


Minnesota DNR Split Rock 25-May-93 1.0 88

Minnesota DNR St. Francis 15-May-85 3.0 319

Red Lake Nation Cooks Rd. 05-May-11 2.2 193


St. Louis CountyEllsburg Rd.

East21-Jun-99 2.5 182


Carlton County Gillogly Rd. 10-Jul-81 6.6 38

Cass / Beltrami/

Hubbard CountiesBlind Lake 10-Sep-91 5.3 400

Minnesota DNR Cotton 29-Jul-81 4.5 462

Minnesota DNR Eaglehead 25-Jun-81 3.6 128


Carlton County Gillogly Rd. 01-May-11 0.5 51

Red Lake Nation Cooks Rd. 05-May-11 1.3 50

St. Louis CountyEllsburg Rd.

West01-Jun-11 1.5 62


Tamarack1st Gen.

SeedlingMinnesota DNR Split Rock 12-May-08 4.3 1,795

Totals: 1 Orchard 4.3 1,795

1st Gen.

Seedling

Jack pine

1st Gen.

Seedling

1st Gen.

Clonal

Red pine

2nd Gen.

Seedling

White pine1st Gen.

Clonal


Table 9. Active MTIC research trials.

Species Planting TypeYear

plantedOrganization Planting Name

Last

measured

Next

Scheduled

Full-sib progeny

test1995 U of M CFC-Airport 40 1995 --

Comparison trial 2008 Koochiching County Manitou 2012 2017

1993 Minnesota DNR Dago Lake Rd 2012 2022

1993Potlatch Forest Holdings,

Inc.Orr 2012 2022

1993Plum Creek Timber

CompanyGordon 2012 2022

1993 Blandin Paper Company Hwy 61 2012 2022

1995 U of M CFC-Airport 40 2005 2015

2003 Koochiching County Little Fork 2012 2022

2003 Minnesota DNR Side Lake * 2012 2022


Inc.Brookston 2012 2022

2003 St Louis County Jean Duluth Rd 2012 2022

2003 UPM-Blandin Wilson Lake * 2012 2022

1986 Lake County Finland 2005 2015

1986 Minnesota DNR Nickerson 2005 2015

1986 Minnesota DNR Ross Lake 2008 2015

1986 St Louis County Rabbit Lake 2005 2015

1986 UPM-Blandin Nine-mile 2005 2015

2003 Itasca County Wabana Lake 2012 2016

2003 St. Louis County Ellsburg East 2012 2016

2003 Minnesota DNR Eaglehead 2012 2016

2005 Lake County Ostman Pit 2009 2019

2005 Minnesota DNR Eaglehead 2009 2019

2005 UPM-Blandin Feeley 2009 2019

1999 St Louis / IRRRB Ellsburg East 2008 --

1999 Crow Wing / MN DNR County Line Rd 2008 --

2007 Beltrami County Lake Bemidji 2011 2016


Inc.Lake George 2011 2016

2007 U of M CFC 2011 2016

2007 St Louis County NE Grade 2011 2016

1999 St Louis County Ellsburg Rd 2008 --

1999 USFS Grand Marais 2008 --

1999 ORSO ORSO 2008 --

Jack

pine

White

pine

Progeny test for

blister rust

resistance

Red

pineComparison trial

Black

spruce

Comparison trial

Progeny test

2nd generation

population

White

spruce

2nd generation

population


Cone Collections

Cone crops were variable among species in 2014. Cooperative members successfully

collected over 100 bushels of cones from five species (Table 10).

Table 10. Cones collected by MTIC members in 2014.

Species Agency Orchard # bushels

Big Falls 2.8

Ditch 7 1.0

MN DNR Split Rock 16.0

Crow Wing / MN DNR County Line Rd 9.3

MN DNR Longprairie 20.0

Red pine St. Louis County Ellsburg Rd 14.0

White pine St. Louis County Ellsburg Rd 5.0

Blandin College 27.0

Carlton Co. Gillogly Rd 5.5

E3 0.2

E4 0.1

Split Rock 0.8

Red Lake Redby 3.0

Total number of bushels collected: 104.7

Koochiching CountyBlack spuce

Jack pine

White spruceMN DNR


SPECIES REPORTS

Black spruce

Black spruce cone crops were generally small across the region. Cones were

collected at Koochiching County’s Big Falls and Ditch 7 (formerly Larsaybow) orchards,

and the MN DNR’s Split Rock orchard. Blandin’s Blackberry orchard continues to be

managed by Mutch’s Forestry, and seed is harvested destructively every few years. Cones

were not collected from the MN DNR’s Eaglehead orchard which will require additional

maintenance of competing vegetation to improve access. Aerial seeding remains the

predominant method of artificial regeneration in the state. Demand for seed fluctuates

wildly from year to year, but supplies of improved seed are generally suitable for the amount

of hand- or machine-planting that occurs each year.

White spruce

White spruce remains the most highly-improved species in the cooperative, with

genetic gains approaching 30% for volume. Orchards have historically produced periodic

bumper crops and most are well-maintained. Blandin’s College orchard is leading the

MTIC for white spruce seed production: Mutch’s Forestry procured 27 bushels, the most of

any orchard this year. Red Lake’s Redby orchard is also starting to produce regular crops,

with three bushels collected this fall. Carlton County’s Gillogly Rd orchard yielded 5.5

bushels of cones. Grafts at the MN DNR’s new E3 and E4 orchards, planted in 2012 at

General Andrews Nursery, are well-tended. The DNR’s Split Rock orchard was visited and

a small cone crop collected. No cones were collected at St. Louis County’s Ellsburg Road

orchard. Lake County’s Two Harbors orchard has an expanding population of spruce

budworm, and no cones were picked. The small white spruce grafts, added to the south end

of Koochiching County Big Falls orchard, are thriving.

Ten-year measurements were completed on the second-generation white spruce

populations planted in 2005: Blandin’s Feeley, Lake County’s Ostman Pit, MN DNR’s

Eaglehead 2005. This data will be combined with ten-year measurements from three sites

planted in 2003: MN DNR’s Eaglehead 2003, Itasca County’s Wabana Lake, and St. Louis

County’s Ellburg Rd. East. Breeding values will be assigned to all genotypes in winter

2015. As always, regular maintenance and annual orchard sanitation (removal of as many


cones as possible) is the best bet to prevent the establishment of cone/seed insects and

diseases.

Jack pine

MN DNR’s Longprairie orchard had a modest cone crop that was collected by a

crew consisting of STS, staff from the Little Falls office, Badoura and General Andrews

Nurseries. Cones were not collected at MN DNR’s Nickerson, St. Louis County’s Ellsburg

Rd, Carlton County’s Gillogly Rd, Red Lake’s Redby, or Crow Wing County’s Crow

Wing first-generation orchards. Cass/Beltrami/Hubbard County’s Deep Portage,

MNDNR’s Bemidji, and IRRRB’s Calumet orchards are being phased out.

The second-generation population at St Louis County/IRRRB Ellsburg Rd East

experienced some wind-throw after rogueing in fall 2013. A survey of these trees was

started in 2014 and will be completed in 2015. At the Crow Wing County / MN DNR

County Line population, hardwood competition was mechanically removed, and many

trees were topped for cone collections. All remaining trees at both second-generation

populations will be surveyed and tagged to facilitate future scion collection.

First-generation jack pine orchards are senescing and should be replaced with

improved second-generation orchards, propagated by grafting. We are working with the

MN DNR to designate an area at the General Andrews facility for field grafting to support

this work..

Lastly, we were contacted by Dr Pengxin Lu, Research Scientist at the Ontario

Forest Research Institute in S. S. Marie, about collaborating on a climate change project.

They have asked if we could re-measure jack pine range-wide provenance trials located at

Blackberry and Cloquet Forestry Center. We agreed to measure these sites as part of this

collaboration. Each site will require roughly three days to complete. We measured these

sites in 2005 for a similar project led by Dr Bill Parker at Lakehead U at Thunder Bay, so we

are familiar with their condition and layout.


Red pine

St. Louis County removed approximately 32 trees at the Ellsburg Rd orchard, to

alleviate spacing constraints, and collected cones from the felled trees. The MN DNR’s

Cotton orchard had a small cone crop, and a grocery bag full was collected from the

ground. The MN DNR’s Eaglehead orchard had few cones this year. All but 38 trees of

Carlton County’s Gillogly Rd orchard were removed. The orchard was down-sized to

make room for the new grafted orchard.

Our objective is to create a new set of improved first-generation orchards produced

by grafting. In 2011 we planted our first grafted trees at three sites. Survival at Carlton

County’s Gillogly Rd is high, at 78%. Survival at Red Lake’s Cooks Rd is fairly low, at

35%. We are hopeful that the remaining grafts will continue to thrive at all three sites. At

St. Louis County’s Ellsburg Rd West, survival was lower, about 40%, but established grafts

had a few cones on them. Jim and Carrie attempted to replace 72 failed grafts by field-

grafting new scions onto the rootstock in 2014. The 11% success rate was uninspiring. We

attributed this lackluster success to the unusual cold spring weather that froze the scions

after grafting, and not necessarily to our grafting techniques.

Jim and Carrie made 17 controlled crosses at the St. Louis County Ellsburg Rd.

orchard using a JLG lift that was rented using separate funds. These trees will need to be

revisited in the spring to apply mesh bags for insect control, and again in the fall for cone

collections. We also collected open pollinated seed from 23 mother trees to supplement the

second-generation populations.

White pine

A bumper crop of white pine cones occurred statewide in 2014. Unfortunately,

demand for white pine seed is low at this time, so no collections were made from any

orchards. At Red Lake’s Cooks Rd orchard, a few trees were lost to mowing damage, but

overall survival is excellent. We did not visit the DNR’s St Francis orchard near

Zimmerman, MN this year. The two orchards at St Louis County’s Ellburg Rd are in good

shape and continue to produce cone crops periodically. Jim collected six sources of open-


pollinated seed from the CFC Breeding Arboretum for potential screening and/or for

planting at the CFC.

In 2012, we installed a disease garden trial intended to test blister rust resistance in

white pine parents and seedlings side-by-side with a control of zone appropriate seedlings.

This study is described in more detail in the 2012 Annual Report. Seedlings and grafts (only

at the Eveleth site) were planted at Eveleth and HWRC in 2012 and at Namebini in 2013.

The Namebini site is located on private property near Duluth on McCade Road and was

planted with leftover seedlings from Eveleth and HWRC. All sites are fenced with high

tensile wire to five feet and poultry fencing at the bottom.

Seedlings were classified by their expected level of performance once infected with

white pine blister rust, i.e. susceptible cross, susceptible, susceptible X resistant, increased

resistance, and resistance cross, where the labels ‘susceptible’ and ‘resistant’ are lower and

higher rates of survival compared to a zone appropriate DNR control.

Data were collected on survival and height in fall 2014 after three and two years of

growth respectively. Table 11 reports averages for seedling survival and height by seedling

classification within sites without further analysis. Survival is excellent on all sites with the

exception of three seedlots at Namebini (open pollinated seedlots P-30 and Tofte #305 and

resistance cross P-343 X H-111). In general, seedlings have well developed buds going into

winter of 2014-2015. Lack of snow depth may result in higher levels of winter injury and

lower levels of soil moisture and seedling growth in spring 2015.


Table 11. Seedling number, survival percentage and height (cm) by resistance category at the Eveleth, HWRC and Namebini white pine disease garden trial sites. Survival was

assessed after three growing seasons, and heights were measured after two growing seasons.

Female Male Category N Survival Height N Survival Height N Survival Height

H-109 Open S 30 96.7 34.5 15 93.3 41.1H-111 Open S 30 96.7 41.1 15 100.0 40.5 20 100.0 31.8H-109 H-111 SxS 30 100.0 41.0 15 100.0 44.9 30 100.0 24.8

Average 97.8 38.9 97.8 42.2 100.0 28.3

P-327 Open R+ 30 93.3 41.7 15 100.0 47.7 25 100.0 34.3ON-469 Open R+ 30 96.7 43.5 15 93.3 59.2 30 100.0 36.1

P-343 Open R+ 30 96.7 41.5 15 100.0 46.5ON-491 Open R+ 30 100.0 48.0 15 100.0 44.9 30 100.0 34.6

P-312 Open R+ 30 75.0 41.5 15 86.7 50.5P-30 Open R+ 30 96.7 38.9 15 100.0 53.9 13 46.0 16.4

Tofte #305 Open R+ 30 100.0 35.8 15 93.3 42.4 15 50.0 13.1Average 94.0 41.6 96.2 49.3 79.2 26.9

P-327 P-312 RxR 30 100.0 53.5 15 93.3 58.7 30 93.5 34.8P-327 P-343 RxR 30 100.0 45.5 15 100.0 50.1 31 90.0 30.7P-327 P-30 RxR 30 96.7 46.0 15 100.0 46.5 30 100.0 34.3

ON-469 P-312 RxR 30 100.0 52.6 15 93.3 62.2 30 100.0 39.6ON-469 P-327 RxR 30 93.3 46.2 15 100.0 50.3 31 100.0 37.4ON-469 P-343 RxR 30 96.7 48.2 15 93.3 62.4 30 100.0 33.2ON-469 P-30 RxR 30 100.0 48.6 15 100.0 51.3 30 100.0 36.5

P-343 P-327 RxR 30 93.3 45.8 15 100.0 40.8 24 100.0 28.9P-343 P-30 RxR 30 96.7 41.3 15 100.0 43.8 30 100.0 30.0

ON-491 P-343 RxR 30 100.0 42.2 15 93.3 57.6 30 100.0 31.1

P-312 P-30 RxR 30 96.3 40.8 15 86.7 62.3

Average 97.5 46.4 96.4 53.3 98.4 33.6

P-30 H-111 RxS 30 96.7 47.7 15 100.0 49.8 30 100.0 35.5

P-312 H-111 RxS 30 100.0 43.7 15 100.0 57.3 30 100.0 31.7

P-343 H-111 RxS 30 100.0 43.4 15 93.3 51.2 10 50.0 15.2

P-327 H-111 RxS 30 93.3 48.3 15 93.3 48.8 30 100.0 32.3

Average 97.5 45.8 96.7 51.8 87.5 28.7

DNR 104 bulked control 60 98.3 44.8 30 96.7 44.7 31 90.5 35.4

Plantation Average 96.7 44.1 96.5 50.4 91.8 30.8

Eveleth HWRC Namebini

Means for survival and height appear to be similar across the three sites and among

categories of seedlings (i.e. susceptible, increased resistance, resistance cross, etc) suggesting

that all three sites will provide valid information once blister rust infection starts. Currently

there is no evidence of blister rust in any of the plantings but microsite conditions (tall


grass), landform position (level ground or toe slope position) and the presence of blister rust

in native white pine all suggest that blister rust is in the areas. We will continue to monitor

for signs of the disease and consider planting inoculated Ribes spp. plants if necessary.

There are also ten grafted white pine genotypes at Eveleth that represent parents

considered both resistant and susceptible. Survival averages 86% and ranges from 50-100%

(data not shown).

Advancing the breeding work from 2013 we made 90 crosses at the St Louis County

orchard and the CFC breeding arboretum this past summer in a series of non-connected full

diallels. Ten of the crosses were repeats of 2013 due to branch breakage (Table 12) although

80 crosses were new (Table 13). The goal is to cross genotypes that have shown promise for

increased blister rust resistance from USFS blister rust field screening trials (912, 922, 924

and 989A), USFS greenhouse screening trials (2009-2010) and results from the Moose

Fence trial at Tofte amongst themselves and with additional selections currently in the

MTIC orchards. Seeds will be collected, grown into seedlings and out-planted in field trials

and/or screened in greenhouse trials.

Table 12. White pine crosses made at the St Louis County seed orchard in 2013 and 2014.

Males

MI-69 MI-155 ON-466 ON-469 ON-491 ON-504 ON-646

C-101 X X 2014 X X X

MI-25 X 2014 X 2014 X 2014 2014

MI-27 X X X X X X X

P-30 2014 X 2014 X 2014 X X

P-343 X X X 2014 2014 X

In addition to making crosses we also collected pollen from 16 un-sampled genotypes

in the St. Louis County orchard. This pollen has been dried and vacuumed sealed and is in

storage in Grand Rapids.

In 2015 we plan to place mesh bags over the pollinated cones to reduce predation

and cone weevil infestations. We also plan to collect cones from the crosses we made in

2013. We will also be assessing the cone crops in our orchards and wild trees to determine

if a new collection of open-pollinated seed will be feasible in 2015. In 2014, the white pine


cone crop was the best it has been in years and often there is a somewhat smaller crop the

following year. We are in particular need of open-pollinated seed from genotypes in the

Fall Lake orchard but there were few cones in that orchard in 2014. Finally, we will be

making plans for a field based progeny trial that will assess growth and form.

Table 13. White pine crosses made at the St. Louis County seed orchard in 2014.

P-343 P-327 P-312 ON-466 C-101 C-108 MI-155 MI-38

C-120 X X X X MI-23 X X X X

C-132 X X X X MI-29 X X X

C-137 X X X S-504 X X X

C-157 X X X S-510 X X X X

ON-469 ON-491 ON-504 ON-646 MI-98 3880 2410 3961

C-159 X X X X S-512 X X X

C-160 X X X X S-517 X

C-257 X X X X S-521 X X X

C-172 X X X S-530 X X X X

MI-69 MI-27 MI-112 MI-117 4090 2840 62 2940

C-170 X X X X S-533 X X X X

MI-2 X X X S-534 X X X X

MI-4 X S-536 X X X X

MI-12 X X X X S-539 X X

Males Males

Males Males

Males Males

Tamarack

The MN DNR’s Split Rock tamarack seed collection area is now above the grass,

and the trees are thriving. This planting will provide a highly accessible, genetically diverse

seed source in the future.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of

Forestry, for acknowledging the work of the Minnesota Tree Improvement Cooperative in 2014.


We were a recipient of the Partnership Award of Excellence, given at their Supervisor’s meeting

at the Cloquet Forestry Center. The award consists of a framed plaque and letter pictured below.


OUTLOOK

The economy continues to improve but forest managers in Minnesota continue to

confront new critters in addition to a changing climate. Invasive species such as gypsy

moth, emerald ash borer, and more recently mountain pine beetle, threaten the vitality of

our forests and will challenge our forest products industry. Climate change is already

influencing the composition of our forests and plant communities, prompting the DNR to

develop a new OP order related to its mitigation. The forest industry faces steep

competition from overseas and high stumpage prices locally. Where does tree improvement

fit in this mix? We are optimistic that our work will increase in relevancy, because the

pedigree information we maintain is useful to quantify local adaptation, seed transfer, and

maximize productivity. We plan to submit another proposal to LCCMR to pursue a multi-

species common garden experiment to advance our knowledge with respect to hardwoods,

and to further test the DNR seed zones.

This winter, we will assign breeding values to all second-generation white spruce

families, white pine resistance trials, and revise red pine datasets. We have purchased a

one-year site-license for software to assign breeding values on this complex pedigree. This

will allow us to estimate genetic gains and select genotypes for creating improved second-

generation orchards.

We commend cooperative members who have supported the MTIC all these years,

allowing us to advance the program and continue building orchards for future reforestation.

We will continue to work with Dr. Alan Ek and the Department of Forest Resources at the

University of Minnesota to complete installation of silviculture demonstration areas, and

look forward to working with new faculty members in forest health and silviculture.


2015 COOPERATIVE WORK PLAN

Black spruce

Monitor seed orchards, collect cones as they are available.

White spruce

Collect all cones from orchards!

Progeny test is 30 years old in 2015! Make plans to manage and/or measure trees.

Collect baseline data on Blandin IIC sites.

Visit white spruce comparison trial on String of Pearls IIC site on Blandin land.

Visit 2003 white spruce comparison trial site at Side Lake area (Tim Russ)

Jack pine

Collect additional pollen from second-generation orchards.

Make plans for field grafting at General Andrews.

Identify and prepare other locations for new grafted orchards.

Monument all trees at the second-generation jack pine populations.

Identify and prepare rootstock.

Measure range-wide provenance trials at Blackberry and Cloquet for OFRI scientists.

Red pine

Re-survey graft survival at Red Lake, Ellsburg Rd, Carlton County

Plant rootstock at General Andrews for field grafting in 2016.

White pine

Mesh bags on control pollinated trees

Pick cones fall 2015

Monitor disease gardens

Hemlock (Carlton County)

Plant rootstock into Gillogly Rd orchard.

Identify trees for grafting in 2016 or later.

Tamarack (MN DNR)

Monitor seed orchard, collect cones as they are available.


ADVISORY COMMITTEE

2014

FULL MEMBERS

Beltrami County DJ Bakken, Dick Moore Cass County Erik Lindquist

Crow Wing County Bryan Pike Iron Range Resources,

Mineland Reclamation Dan Jordan Koochiching County Tom Morris, Tom Toratti Minnesota DNR - Forestry Deb Pitt, Rick Klevorn

Red Lake Nation Tony Arola, Jeff Fossen St. Louis County Rob Benson, Mark Pannkuk

Univ. of Minnesota Dept. of Forest Resources Alan Ek

UPM-Blandin Greg Duwe, Beth Jacqmain

SUPPORTING MEMBERS

Bureau of Indian Affairs Matt Anderson Carlton County Greg Bernu

Clearwater County Bruce Cox Hedstrom Lumber Co. Howard Hedstrom

Hubbard County Allen Lysdahl Lake County Bill Nixon, Nate Eide

The University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access

to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin,

sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.

This publication/material can be made available in alternative formats for people with disabilities. Direct requests to

Carolyn C. Pike, 175 University Rd, Cloquet Forestry Center,

Cloquet, MN 55720, (218) 726-6406, email: [email protected]

Printed on recycled and recyclable paper with at least 10 percent postconsumer waste material.

minnesota tree improvement cooperative

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