Summer Forest Pests
While many are on summer vacation or are making their summertime plans, forest pests are making their plans too. Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and Emerald Ash Borer, both invasive species that are now present in Chautauqua County and beyond, are setting their sites on some summertime love and beautiful landscapes to destroy. As you may recall, this past winter we joined forces with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County (CCE) to establish an educational outreach project using bright yellow signs with information about these forest pests. Many of these signs were erected along the...
Read MoreWe Didn’t Find Anything…And That’s a Good Thing!
After two months of intensive winter survey work, we found nothing. However, that’s precisely the result we wanted. As you’ve probably seen or heard, this past winter we surveyed several sites throughout the area looking exclusively for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), an invasive insect that puts all Eastern Hemlock trees (Tsuga canadensis), the habitats they make up and the wildlife they support at risk. This particular pest is minute, but can bring a tree to its death within a matter of 3-5 years if left unchecked and untreated. In response to this, several organizations, state...
Read MoreTwo Surveys Down and One to Go!
Who said survey work in the snow can’t be fun? The photos below are from our past two surveys of Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy sites. We are happy to report that both the Cassadaga Creek Preserve and the Elm Flats 1st Preserve came up clean, with no signs of the menacing Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), the target of our search efforts. With two sites done, we now have one site left to survey: the Dobbins Woods Preserve. We will be meeting on site at 9am this coming Saturday and welcome anyone that is willing to volunteer their time and wants one more chance to enjoy the snow. I hope...
Read MoreSurvey Work Continues
Call us crazy, but we have done it again: bundled ourselves up and trudged around in knee deep snow to survey for the deadly Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. This time, our JCC/CWC/RTPI survey team traveled down to Warren County to visit the Hatch Run Conservation Demonstration Area for the second year in a row. This site is loaded with Eastern Hemlock trees that make up a beautiful and valuable riparian zone between the streams and upland forests. We are happy to report that we didn’t find the pest we were after (which is a good thing!) and being in that particular site made us really think....
Read MoreAnother HWA Survey
Don’t forget our Hemlock Woolly Adelgid surveys, with another coming up tomorrow Friday, February 27. This is not what you want to see covering the trees of Chautauqua County, killing thousands and devastating parts of the landscape. Please join us and help find the bug before it’s too late! See more information here.
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