Benjamin Bohall's blog

Panhandle Spring Freeze May 2022

By Laurie Stepanek, NFS Forest Health Specialist

When freeze warnings are posted, gardeners carefully cover susceptible garden vegetables and flowers with blankets, sheets, buckets, and garbage cans. But larger shrubs and trees must fend for themselves. The freeze this past weekend left many woody plants across the panhandle with brown, drooping leaves and shoots.

Nebraska Forest Service Affiliate Education Centers Tree Trunks

Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory for Nebraska

Subject: Critically dry conditions and delayed green up have created a volatile landscape for extreme fire behavior in portions of central Kansas and Nebraska.

Discussion: Much above normal temperatures over winter combined with below normal precipitation rapidly developed drought. These dry conditions have persisted into April and have intensified over the last few weeks. As a result, green up has been slow

Windbreak Short Course 2021

Links to Useful Publications/Websites:

Day One Agenda

Session Video

Windbreak Designs

Windbreak Purposes

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Day Two Agenda

Session Video

Site Prep in Western Nebraska Document (Please print ahead of the Day Two workshop!)

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Day Three Agenda

Session Video

Bluffs Experimental Fruit Farm

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Day Four Agenda

Session Video

Hybrid Hazelnuts

Learn how to become a certified arborist in Nebraska!

In the state of Nebraska, two organizations provide opportunities for arborists to become recognized as trained and tested arborists by earning credible certifications. The Nebraska Arborists Association (NAA) and the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) both offer membership benefits, resources for test prep and continuing education opportunities.

Walnut Twig Beetle Discovered In Nebraska

*This picture shows a Colorado walnut twig with twig beetle exit holes.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture announced today that walnut twig beetle, a carrier of a fatal disease of walnut trees, was discovered in Gering. This is the first confirmation of the beetle in Nebraska.

Walnut twig beetles are tiny brown insects that feed under the bark, causing twigs to die.

Plant Grants offer communities a helping hand

Spring is on its way. With its arrival communities’ plants will bloom, bringing vibrant colors and wildlife laid dormant through the cold winter months. Perhaps nothing is more uplifting than seeing flowers blooming to let you know the warm weather is on its way. Having a community garden filled with native plants uses less water, cleans air of pollutants and prevents runoffs.

2019 Annual Report

Nebraska Firefighters Museum celebrates the past, while looking to the future

In the front lobby of the Nebraska Firefighters Museum and Education Center in Kearney, Matt Fitzgerald smiles and greets a small family that just entered the building.

“Do you guys want some firefighter helmets?” he asks the family’s two children. Both light up with grins and nod enthusiastically.

Meet your Nebraska State Forester

Before coming to the Nebraska Forest Service (NFS), John Erixson, a Nebraska native, spent more than 20 years managing natural resources in Idaho for a private consulting firm. He holds bachelor and master's degrees in resource management from the University of Idaho. He is an active member of several regional and national organizations, including the Nebraska Riparian Task Force, National Association of State Foresters, and Western Forestry Leadership Coalition