Overview The 2003 North Central Forest Pest Workshop was held Monday September 22 through Thursday September 25 at University of Minnesota's Cloquet Forestry Center, near Cloquet, Minnesota. Technical session topics included bark beetles, oak health, and exotic invasive species. Schedule Monday September 22: Began in the afternoon with fungal foray, followed by registration, poster setup and an informal social, which included a sandwich bar. Tuesday September 23: Indoor technical sessions began, with topics including bark beetles in the Great Lakes Region, graduate student presentations, and Oak forest health. A short walking tour of the Cloquet Forestry Center introduced participants to the facilities history and forest management and outreach objectives. Wednesday September 24: Field Trip with stops at the Duluth harbor to discuss exotic species introductions, demonstration excavation of stem-girdling roots on shade trees, and a session on spruce and eastern larch beetles, a visit with a log house builder and discussions of native pine and imported western pine wood qualities and the issue of exotic bark beetles, red and white pine silviculture and shoot and root diseases, and black spruce dwarf mistletoe. Thursday September 25: During the morning there were additional talks on exotic and invasive species. Kirk Smith of the Minnesota Department of Health closed out the session with a riveting presentation on the status of various vector-borne diseases (such as Lyme disease and West Nile Virus) that are currently of concern to people in the Midwest and Great Lakes. A poster session was available for viewing throughout the meeting. Detailed agenda is available here: Highlights There were 85 registered attendees. Each registrant received a custom NCFPW hat. The Cloquet forestry center meeting facilities were excellent, and the food was terrific. Ron Severs, Cloquet Forestry Center Forester, provided attendees with an evening slide presentation "Trials and tribulations of paddling against the current" his story of exploring the Yukon River and surrounding landscapes and people in Alaska. Registration and Costs The registration fee in 2003 was $96.00. This included workshop registration, transportation for the field trip, all meals, and a hat, but did not include accommodation. Accommodation costs to stay at the camp ranged from $17 to $45 per night, depending on whether you stayed in the bunkhouse, a shared room, or a private room. Thanks to the organizing committee Alan Jones, Minnesota DNR Mike Albers, Minnesota DNR Mike Ostry, USDA Forest Service Steve Katovich, USDA Forest Service

Mike Ostry shares his wisdom about red pine management and shoot blight during the field trip session. Photo by Tom Nicholls.

Daroll Skilling, Tom Nicholls, Mike Ostry, and Fred Baker collected dwarf mistletoe shoots in the dark to save the NCFPW fieldtrip a journey down a narrow dirt road to the swamp. We all appreciated the specimens they collected, plus the fact that we didn't get the field trip bus stuck! Photo by Dan Gilmore.

The field trip lunch break was taken at scenic Jay Cook State Park. Photo by Linda Haugen.

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