Forest Pest Task Force
Please join us at RTPI on Wednesday, September 13th from 1:00-3:00PM for the fall Chautauqua County Forest Pest Task Force meeting! The task force will discuss ongoing forest pest issues such as the spread of Emerald Ash Borer, Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, Oak Wilt and other new diseases or pests impacting our local, regional and state forests. The public is welcome to attend and contribute to the discussions!
Read MoreThe Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
Will we see you this Thursday at RTPI? New York Invasive Species Awareness Week continues!
Read MoreWhite Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
While Scott has been doing a marvelous job documenting and sharing the spring migrants, I thought the plant life that is becoming more and more evident needs some representation too! Over the past couple of weeks the trees have been slowly budding, enabling ample sunshine to continue to kiss the forest floors. The warm rays have been kick-starting growth of ground cover and mid-story plants, including one particularly beautiful flower: the white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum). This flower is common in rich, upland forests and can be easily distinguished by its showy, wavy petals. Unlike...
Read MoreTrout Lily (Erythronium americanum)
With trees just beginning to bud, sunlight has been able to penetrate to the forest floor, providing light for many early spring wildflowers to bloom. One such wildflower that can be seen during this time of the year is the Trout lily (Erythronium americanum). These little lilies are easily recognized by their mottled leaves, which gives the flower their name as the markings on the leaves look like the markings of brook trout, and their bright yellow flowers. Interestingly, these flowers form colonies that can completely coat a forest floor and the colonies themselves may be hundreds of...
Read MoreConnecting with Our Forests
While old man winter seemed to have taken a break this past season, we certainly did not as there was much work to be done! As you likely saw, we spent much of this past winter season getting into the field to survey for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae), an invasive insect threatening our local hemlock trees (Tsuga canandensis) and forests. Throughout the course of our field work and educational outreach programs, we not only had the opportunity to spread the word about this pest in attempts to slow the spread of it into our area, but also had the opportunity to learn a lot more about...
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