HWA Surveys Begin
With the recent news of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) reaching Chautauqua County, Tina and I began our surveys last Friday starting with one of the hemlock stands along the trails here at RTPI. We bundled up and spent a couple hours combing through the hemlock branches we could reach and are happy to report that we didn’t find any HWA within this particular cluster of trees. As the winter continues, we will continue to survey around our trails and will soon join our efforts with JCC students to survey the college’s woodlot as well. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we...
Read MoreHWA Here to Stay?
It’s official friends, HWA has been found in Chautauqua County. Over the holidays, Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) was encountered on a number of Eastern Hemlock trees (Tsuga canadensis) near Fredonia. These trees exhibited the signs and symptoms of the invasive insect’s presence, having twigs covered in white woolly masses and dying needles, discolored due to loss of nutrients. Due to its small size and discrete nature, HWA can easily go undetected until it is too late, and death of the attacked hemlock is inevitable. However, it CAN be stopped and we CAN help the hemlocks...
Read MoreThanks Attendees! Collaborative Forest Pest Project Information Session
A big “thank you!” to everyone who attended our Collaborative Forest Pest Project Information Session this past Thursday night at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History in Jamestown, New York. Here you can see RTPI Conservation Technician Elyse Henshaw who did a terrific job educating over 20 members of the public on devastating forest pests like Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), an aphid-like insect targeting Eastern Hemlock trees, and Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), a wood boring insect targeting all of our Ash trees. As these pests threaten Chautauqua County organizations...
Read MoreNo Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Here
This past week RTPI staff, JCC faculty and a number of JCC students conducted surveys in two locations looking specifically for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid or HWA. We are happy to report negative findings for both our survey locations in near Randolph, NY and Warren, PA. In both locations we surveyed, the Hemlocks appeared healthy and free of pests or disease. Our survey efforts are contributing to a large project being led by the US Forest Service and the Nature Conservancy, who have prioritized survey locations within the High Allegheny Plateau ecoregion. Surveys are to be conducted 1-2 times...
Read MoreCollege Lodge survey
Here’s RTPI Conservation Technician Elyse Henshaw checking for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid on an Eastern Hemlock tree (Tsuga canadensis) yesterday at the College Lodge. Our staff is currently conducting a year-long plant and wildlife assessment of the approximately 200-acre property owned and operated by the Faculty Student Association of SUNY Fredonia. Working with SUNY staff and experienced local naturalists RTPI staff is surveying all forms of life in order to create a conservation and management plan recommending best practices for the site. In July 2014 there will be a BioBlitz of the...
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