#12: Climate Smart Trees, March 25, 2026

For this Minnesota Women in Conservation Welcoming Wednesday Webinar on March 25, 2026, we heard about the many ways we can get involved and support the health and resiliency of trees in Minnesota forests and woodlands.

March 25, 2026

Webinar Topic:

Climate Smart Trees

Webinar Hosts:

Maddy Bartsch, MNWiC South East Region Coordinator

Conservation Professionals:

Kira Pollack, Extension Forester, UMN Extension

Cree Bradley, Chelsea Morning Farm

Bios:

Kira Pollack is a University of Minnesota Extension Educator specializing in tree seed collection and seed production. Prior to her role with Extension, she was a natural resources technician in the Twin Cities, and conducted research on eastern hemlock restoration in Minnesota. In her free time, you can find her reading romance novels, gardening, and crocheting.

Cree Bradley works multiple complementary jobs that keep her busy year-round. She is employed by the MN Department of Agriculture in the Plant Protection Division, collecting population and reproduction data on Lymantria dispar, or spongy moth, an invasive species, with field work primarily throughout the Superior National Forest and adjacent lands, while supervising a crew throughout northern MN. Since 2016, she has run Worksong Services in order to reach, teach and support more farmers and ranchers across the country with Holistic Management education. Additionally, Cree owns and operates Chelsea Morning Farm with her husband and can be found in late winter and spring, collecting spruce grouse population data for the MN Department of Natural Resources.

Links to Resources Shared in the Webinar: 

Building Capacity for Restoration video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8qq9X-CSVQ

Sister FFGC Educational Site: https://www.climatesmarttrees.com (Slide 20) 

FFGC Email: farmforestgrowers@gmail.com (Slide 21, 26)

Farm and Forest Growers (FFGC) Sales Website: https://farmforestgrowers.com 

Collecting Tree Seeds: z.umn.edu/TreeSeed

DNR seed and cone page: z.umn.edu/DNRSeedCone (https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/nursery/cone-seed-collection.html)

https://mntca.umn.edu/ask-tree-care-advisor-email-outreach-team

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/nursery/collection-map.html

My Minnesota Woods newsletter: z.umn.edu/MMW

Nature's Notebook group: https://naturesnotebook.usanpn.org/npnapps/programs/1368

Urban Forestry Outreach and Research (UFOR): https://trees.umn.edu/

ACORN Course info: https://extension.umn.edu/creating-climate-ready-woodlands/acorns-seed-collection-course

SE MN seed collection: https://nativeseedcollectionguide-mn.weebly.com/

Creating climate-ready woodlands: https://extension.umn.edu/forestry/creating-climate-ready-woodlands

Local SWCD locator: https://www.maswcd.org/find-your-swcd

Ask a Tree Care Advisor: https://mntca.umn.edu/ask-tree-care-advisor-email-outreach-team

Seed and cone collection map: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/nursery/collection-map.html

Nature's Notebook group: https://naturesnotebook.usanpn.org/npnapps/programs/1368

Climate Change Projections for Tree Species: https://forestadaptation.org/learn/resource-finder/climate-change-projections-individual-tree-species-minnesota-ecological

Planting Trees for a Changing Climate: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/northern-forests/topic/planting-trees-changing-climate; https://extension.umn.edu/forestry/creating-climate-ready-woodlands

Savannah Institute: https://www.savannainstitute.org

Contacts

Kira Pollack contact: polla275@umn.edu

Cree Bradley: chelseamorningfarm@gmail.com

About Minnesota Women in Conservation

Minnesota Women in Conservation (MNWiC) is a project of Renewing the Countryside in partnership with the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). MNWiC's mission is to engage women in conservation conversations, connecting them with the tools and resources needed to develop their own goals. We facilitate Regional Networks  to help all women of every experience level to learn and to implement practices in their own spaces, both urban and rural.  We are here to nurture land and community. Join us!

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While the MNWiC project strives to make the information provided to individuals as timely and accurate as possible, we make no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the content of our webinars. The information presented is solely the speakers’ expressed views and MNWiC expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in content.