The Montana Urban and Community Forestry Association (MUCFA) and MSU Extension hosted an Urban Forestry Diagnostics Bootcamp Feb. 19-20 at the Red Lion in Polson.

Twenty-five people signed up to learn about common abiotic disorders (environmental and herbicide-related) and biotic disorders (disease and insect-related) in the community’s trees, specifically those deciduous and coniferous species that shade city streets, as well as fruit trees.

Discussions covered how to identify trees correctly and diagnose nutrient deficiencies and toxicities in trees. Participants also reviewed case studies from the MSU Schutter Diagnostic Lab in Bozeman, which focuses on the diagnosis of plant diseases, insect damage, and environmental plant problems.

Instructors included MSU Extension specialists Abi Saeed, Eva Grimme, Clain Jones and Patrick Mangan.

MUCFA chair Patrick Plantenberg said the workshop, as well as three more slated across the state in March, are funded by a federal Inflation Reduction Act grant.

Plantenberg is a retired reclamation specialist for the state of Montana who has owned a landscape business serving Bozeman and Townsend for 42 years. He said the gathering brought together lots of tree experts and professionals.

In addition to the MSU Extension crew, semi-retired Lake County Extension agent Jack Stivers attended, as did Rick Jennison of Jennison Tree Service in Ronan. Urban foresters, city parks staff, nursery owners and landscapers from Polson, Missoula, Whitefish and Hungry Horse were also among the participants.

“It was a really good diverse group of people,” he said.

The old timers in the room (he includes himself in this category) “were able to teach the young whippersnappers a few things,” he added.

In addition to eight hours of training in how insects, diseases, heat and drought affect trees, participants also received free hand lenses “that people in the field can use to look closely at trees and bark.”

Plantenberg said a major concern among arborists is fire blight, a bacteria that can attack all members of the rose family, including fruit trees and mountain ash. He also noted that the unseasonably warm winter is alarming.

“With all the warm weather, we’re really worried that trees are coming out of dormancy and getting ready to bloom,” he said. “If we get a cold snap, we could lose a lot of flower blossoms, young leaves and branches.”

His hometown of Townsend is also suffering from more extreme drought conditions than the Mission Valley.

“We’re watering our trees right now because there’s no frost in the ground,” he said.

Lack of moisture makes trees more vulnerable to pests. “Once they’re stressed they’re more susceptible to disease and insect infestation,” he added.

Polson’s gathering marked the first of four regional bootcamps. The other workshops will be held in Lewistown on March 16-17, Miles City on March 18, and Whitehall on March 23-24.

To learn more about MUCFA and its upcoming training events go to mucfa.net.