KANE — As more instances of hemlock wooly adelgid infestations continue to become more common on the Allegheny Plateau, so too does the need for an increased reporting of the pest on the local stands of hemlock.
The Pennsylvania Chapter of the Nature Conservancy held a session at the Kane fire hall on Tuesday to educate volunteers on how to identify the insect, and the steps taken by U.S. Forest Service and Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to eradicate the pests from area hemlock stands.
DCNR environmental education specialist Dale Luthringer described the eastern hemlock trees as “prolific” in the area, and noted there are approximately 19 million acres of the species across the country, with around 2.3 million acres in Pennsylvania.
Luthringer explained while there is not a lot of timber value in the tree, the hemlock actually provides habitats for animals such as whitetail deer, black bear, and the fisher, as well as 90 species of birds such as the acadian flycatcher, Swainson’s thrush, and three different types of warblers. He said as hemlock dies off, the animals move out.
“When you lose hemlock forest,” Luthringer said, “they’re going to go somewhere else and find a habitat they prefer.”
Luthringer said the adelgid would also pose a threat to some ancient stands of hemlock. The “state champ,” as Luthringer referred to it, is the Susquehannock Hemlock, which is 13.7 feet wide by 135.3 feet tall. He said the tree has approximately 11,280 board feet.
Luthringer does not want to see the local hemlock stands go the way the Caldwell Giant hemlock in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He said the tree, which was 19.1 feet in girth and 152 feet wide — a total of 19,212 board feet — fell victim to the adelgid.
Tim Tomon, forest program specialist for the DCNR in Penfield, said the adelgid is native to Japan and other points in Asia, and was spread to the United States by a plant collector in the 1950s. Tomon said the pest was first introduced to most of the state — including Elk County — sometime in between 1967 and 2007. He said it was first reported in McKean County in 2013.
Tomon said a combination of chemical and natural means are being tested in combating the adelgid. While cold temperatures, such as those registering down to -31 degrees Fahrenheit in Cooks Forest State Park last year, help in controlling the pest, over 90 percent of the population in any given strand must be killed just to maintain the population.
Tomon noted that neonicotinoids, pesticides such as Imidacloprid, are helpful in fighting the insect. However, he said using the pesticides on small stands of trees may not be cost effective, as individual trees will need to be treated.
Biological controls are currently being tested by the DCNR, Tomon said. There are six beetles which are predatory to the adelgid, as well as some species of mites and flies. Approximately 1,000 of these beetles were released into stands in Wykoff Run in the Quehanna Wild Area in Driftwood Tuesday and also recently at Sinnemahoning State Park. He said the progress of the pest control will be closely monitored by the DCNR.
Tomon also cited a study from Virginia Tech where large stands of hemlock were chemically treated while smaller stands were treated with beetles. He was optimistic about the results, noting the beetles were not only helping control the adelgid populations but also not being killed off by the chemicals.
Sarah Johnson, conservation GIS analyst with the Nature Conservancy, said volunteers are needed to monitor the adelgid. Johnson said the increased monitoring would help both public and private entities in combating the spread of the pest. The chances of gaining more funding from the increased monitor would also increase, saving the hemlock for generations to come.
For more information on volunteering as an adelgid monitor in Pennsylvania, please contact Tomon at (814) 290-5105. To monitor the spread of the adelgid in New York, please email Bob O’Brien at robert.o’brien@parks.ny.gov or Alyssa Reid at alyssa.reid@parks.ny.gov.
