Preventing and mitigating forest pest invasions
Date: April 4, 2017
Location: Teatown Lake Reservation, Ossining, NY
Goals: Raising awareness of long--‐term approaches to mitigating regionally important existing forest pest invasions, i.e., emerald ash borer (EAB), hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) and elongate hemlock scale (EHS), and preventing new invasions; recruiting volunteers for particular programs to identify EAB--‐resistant ash trees and to block pathways for introduction of new forest pests; developing corps of volunteers for participation in LHPRISM projects more generally.
Objectives:
1)
Inform the general public, as well as representatives of agencies, municipalities and NGOs about the overall scope and impacts of invasive forest pest problems:
2)
Provide a case history of one municipality (Woodstock) hit hardest and earliest by EAB, and what was learned from this;
3)
Recruit participants for the Managing and Monitoring Ash (MaMA) project, which comprises assessing ash importance, monitoring EAB impacts, and identifying potentially EAB – resistant ash;
4)
Provide guidance about hemlock management in light of threats by hemlock woolly adelgid and elongate hemlock scale and hemlock’s integral ecosystem roles; and
5)
Encourage participation in the Tree—SMART Trade initiative and explore the potential for local initiatives to confront the global problem of trade in unsafe plants and wood products.
Background: Woodstock’s history with EAB; Tree--SMART Trade initiative; Managing and Monitoring Ash (MaMA); ERI’s work on hemlock ecology and conservation
