This past Saturday, staff from RTPI and the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, along with JCC students and community volunteers, conducted a Hemlock Woolly Adelgid survey on the Cassadaga Creek Preserve in the Town of Stockton, NY. This preserve is a high priority monitoring site because it has one of the highest densities of hemlocks out of all of the CWC preserves, and also because it’s position along a stream creates a potential corridor by which birds and other wildlife could potentially transfer the invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid insect pest.
As you may glean from the photograph in which the participants are all smiles, no trace of HWA was found on the large, beautiful Hemlocks pictured or any other tree inspected during the survey.
Do YOU want to be a citizen scientist and get involved in this important research? We still have several field surveys to go this winter, and the public is invited to join and work alongside RTPI, CWC and JCC researchers, conservationists and professors;
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Survey: Friday, February 5, 2016 at 1pm
As a part of the Hemlock Conservation of the High Allegheny Plateau Project, led by the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy, RTPI and JCC adopted South Valley State Forest to survey and contribute information to these agencies as well as the Department of Environmental Conservation. Join us as we survey two sites on the state forest lands. We will meet in the RTPI parking lot at 12:30pm.
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Survey: Friday, February 12, 2016 at 1pm
In addition to our South Valley State Forest site, we are also surveying the Hatch Run Conservation Demonstration Area in Warren Pennsylvania for the joint USFS/TNC project. We will meet in the RTPI parking lot at 12:30pm.
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Survey: Friday, February 19, 2016 at 1pm
Join us as we explore our backyard and survey the RTPI/JCC woodlot. We will meet in the RTPI parking lot at 1pm to provide instruction and work our way through the preserves.
As we all know, Western New York winter weather can be rather snowy and cold. Individuals interested in participating in these surveys should be prepared for the weather with warm clothing and boots. Snow pants and snow shoes or cross country skis are highly recommended when snow pack is deep.
For more information, contact Elyse Henshaw – ehenshaw@rtpi.org
