Natural Resources News provides timely information, featured events, helpful resources and deep dives into natural resources and environmental issues.
![Oak wilt infected leaves.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/bronzing.jpg?h=95104b5b&itok=sWjprVEM)
Learn about the science behind the high-risk season for oak wilt, one of Minnesota's most dangerous diseases of oak trees.
![View of tree's canopy from the ground.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/vertical-tree-canopy.jpg?h=2e59c5bf&itok=miO_U2ZT)
Forest carbon markets are becoming more popular in Minnesota. If you're a woodland owner, what questions should you ask to decide if they're right for you?
![Trees heavy with snow in winter](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/winter_0.jpg?h=82236d06&itok=6xqClm2Y)
Trees may not be able to escape the cold, but there are a few surprising benefits of cold temperatures.
![Hackberry stem picture frame of a family vacation on a lake.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/wood-picture-frame.jpg?h=8da98b05&itok=YfIl9cRe)
Minnesota was battered by record-breaking high winds after record-breaking high temperatures. This weather is not normal and is one symptom of climate change.
Read more about which tree and woodland sequestered the most carbon in 2021.
![rusty patched queen looking to make a nest in a messy corner](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/affinis-nestsearching-HeatherHolm.jpg?h=41369f14&itok=aM77kpwM)
Pollinators are the glue holding our food system together and key connectors between the plant and animal world. This National Pollinators Week, learn how pollinators can help us appreciate and support our connections to the diversity of the natural world and each other.
![Yellow flower with green leaves.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/Red-hailstone-flower.jpg?h=58cddd89&itok=-AKI7dWR)
A perennial vine native to Asia, red hailstone, or golden creeper, may have been planted as an ornamental vine or vegetable crop. It grows over and smothers other plants.
![An aerial photo of a Minnesota landscape.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/airphoto.jpg?h=291728c2&itok=zqjDuVif)
A number of resources are available to woodland owners to better understand the history of the woods they enjoy.
![A bumblebee foraging on self-heal.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/bumble-bee-on-self-heal.png?h=19b1bda4&itok=5BxQezU-)
Bee lawns provide food and habitat for a wide variety of pollinators and are good for people, too. Learn how you can grow and maintain your own bee lawn with new resources from Extension.
![A green maple leaf with browning edges](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/Drought%20stressed%20maple%20tree%20-%20Robert%20L.%20Anderson%2C%20USDA%20Forest%20Service%2C%20Bugwood.org_.jpg?h=5a43c567&itok=yM0kJz2W)
Pruning trees during drought can increase the risk of insects and disease, so it is best to limit or avoid pruning during the current drought that Minnesota is facing.