Kick Off For NISAW
Happy National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW)! As events are taking place around the country, spreading the word about invasive species, we teamed up with our friend Andrea Locke WNY PRISM Coordinator to kick things off with a training session on Asian Long-horned Beetle (ALB), Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA). We had 16 people in attendance of the training session and had a brave few stay for the outdoor survey portion of the training, bearing the cold temperatures while searching for HWA here at RTPI. We are happy to report that we didn’t find any in...
Read MoreForest Pest Early Detection Training 2/23
Have you heard about Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and Asian Long-horned Beetle (ALB)? Would you like to know more about these invasive forest pests that have been found within the state and local region? Come join the WNY PRISM and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History (RTPI) for an informational forest pest early detection training from 12:30PM-4:30PM on Monday, February 23. Topics covered will include the impacts of each forest pest as well as how to identify each invasive insect, signs and symptoms of an infestation and what to do if you find any of...
Read MoreSuccessful 1st Survey
I am very happy to report that our team comprised of RTPI staff and JCC faculty and students did not find Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) on any of the 200+ trees we surveyed at South Valley State Forest! Although the temperatures were chilly, we had a beautiful sunny day to be out in the hemlock stands trudging our way through the knee deep snow. Prior to our survey we ran our student surveyors through background information about this deadly invasive bug threatening the area’s hemlock trees. We went over look-alikes and our field protocol, then headed out the door to our destination....
Read MoreHWA 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...
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