The 4-H Mentoring Staff teaches mentors the proper tools and skills to begin mentoring youth ages 10-17. This one-day training is available to adults over age 21 who are interested in being mentors. Volunteer applications will be on hand at the training. Light refreshments and lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is required. Register online at http://events.anr.msu.edu/4HMentoringNovember/.

For information regarding the 4-H Tech Wizards Mentoring Program or the Macomb 4-H Mentoring program, please contact Lisa Kelley at lkelley@anr.msu.edu or Dequindre Bell at belldequ@anr.msu.edu.

4-H Officer Roles & Parliamentary Procedure Training - November 1

Interested in learning more about officer roles? Want to gain knowledge in parliamentary procedure? Save the date for our upcoming 4-H Officer Roles & Parliamentary Procedure Training on Saturday, November 1. This free training, presented by the Leadership and Civic Engagement Workgroup from MSU Extension, will take place from 10 a.m.-noon at the Wolcott Mill Farm Center Classroom, 65775 Wolcott Road, Ray Township.

Please call (586) 469-6090 or email Macomb.4h@macombgov.org to register.

Bunny for adoption

Need a soft and cuddly best friend to snuggle with? We found him for you! This loveable bunny came to us for Easter and has been a good-tempered and docile member of our family for about six months, but we are looking for a more pet-friendly home for him than our small apartment. While somewhat skittish at first, he will soon respond to affection by allowing you to pet and play with him. This little guy is litter trained and very curious. He enjoys sniffing feet, chewing, digging, and eating carrots, lettuce, or celery as treats. As he was found outside of our apartment, we are unsure of immunizations, however, he appears happy and healthy. Bunny comes with any provisions we have for him (litter, Timothy hay, food pellets, etc.). If interested, please contact Elyssa Smith at (586) 943-6727 or esmith@orchards.org. 

Request archery targets by October 31st

4-H archery project members, youth bag targets are available for your use for training and practice. If you would like one, please contact Marinda Ochs at ochsmari@anr.msu.edu or (586) 783-8163 by October 31, 2014.

Searching for Ash Trees

Scientists are looking for "survivor trees" in Michigan, and they want your help. The Northern Research Station has launched a new online reporting tool. They want people in 10 counties in southeast Michigan and 7 counties in northwest Ohio to report the location of ash trees that have survived the infestation. Jennifer Koch is a research biologist with the U.S. Forest Service. She explains where to look for the trees and why:

"What we're most interested in are trees that are in natural wooded areas, we really want people to go look outside of their homes and their streets and into the woods and the forests."  Not all ash trees qualify for study. She says trees that are planted in your yard and street trees are most likely from local nurseries and are horticultural cultivars. She says these trees have limited genetic diversity and are probably already in the researchers' collection of trees to be tested. Also, ash trees in yards and cities that survived the borer were often treated with insecticides.

Ash trees in forests, though, are more likely to have survived on their own. "What we're really focusing in on is trees that have maintained a healthy crown, so very few branches with any dying leaves or anything like that, in an area where most of the other ash trees are dead, " she says.

The researchers also want you to keep an eye out for big ash trees: trees with a minimum of a 10-inch diameter at 4.5 feet high. This measurement, known as diameter at breast height or DBH, assures researchers that the tree was big enough when the ash borer infestation was at its peak. That's because the insects like to attack bigger trees.

Breeding for resistance: Koch says researchers will use the information from the reporting tool to try to understand what mechanisms allows these survivor trees to flourish while their counterparts succumbed to the invasive insects.

"We want to determine if that is a genetically heritable trait, because if it is a genetic trait, we can then breed for it. Our ultimate goal is to be able to breed for resistance," Koch says. "And to do that, we have to be able to identify trees that have this rare combination of genes that may allow them to tolerate emerald ash borers longer than their counterparts."

Koch adds that resistance to the ash borer is critical to maintaining ash in Midwestern forests.
If you want to help find survivor trees, first: take a walk in the woods and try to spot a healthy ash tree. And if you think you've found one, you can enter information about the tree using the survivor tree reporting tool. 

http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/SurvivorAsh 
http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/news/release/locating-survivor-ash-trees
 
Full article:
http://michiganradio.org/post/scientists-are-looking-survivor-trees-michigan-and-they-want-your-help