Hemlock Woolly Adelgid in the RRG
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 2:09 pm
HWA is an invasive insect that threatens eastern hemlocks (the green conifers with small needles that are everywhere in the red, and give the forest its characteristic charm). This topic has been covered on the forum: http://www.redriverclimbing.com/viewtop ... ht=hemlock
Anyway, this wednesday I found HWA on the trail that leads to Left Flank. this is particularly sad, because that drain happens to be absolutely full of hemlock, not to mention a number of hemlock-dependent bird species that nest there. it will be a very gloomy place in a few years....
I bring this up because the easiest way to spread HWA is by us: hikers, climbers, people walking along trails. We brush up against hemlock and spread the sticky-eggs and insects from one place to another. In fact, this is the reason that we have HWA at the red so soon! Years ahead of 'schedule', in fact.
It is virtually impossible to walk up to some crags without brushing up against a hemlock. We climbers will effectively spread HWA to every corner of the Red, Pendergrass, Muir--in other words, the entire region. Talk about having blood on your hands...
I just put a pair of snippers in my crag pack. I plan to clip any small* hemlock branches that protrude into trails as I walk up to the walls, and encourage others to do the same. Those of you participating in trail-days, I encourage you to let volunteers know about this as well.
*sick/dying/injured trees are more susceptible to HWA than healthy ones, so use judgement when clipping a branch. trees can handle some light pruning, but I wouldn't remove anything huge--it's more the saplings and seedlings that we tend to brush up against, and those limbs are tiny.
If you want to learn more:
http://www.kyhemlocks.org/
Anyway, this wednesday I found HWA on the trail that leads to Left Flank. this is particularly sad, because that drain happens to be absolutely full of hemlock, not to mention a number of hemlock-dependent bird species that nest there. it will be a very gloomy place in a few years....
I bring this up because the easiest way to spread HWA is by us: hikers, climbers, people walking along trails. We brush up against hemlock and spread the sticky-eggs and insects from one place to another. In fact, this is the reason that we have HWA at the red so soon! Years ahead of 'schedule', in fact.
It is virtually impossible to walk up to some crags without brushing up against a hemlock. We climbers will effectively spread HWA to every corner of the Red, Pendergrass, Muir--in other words, the entire region. Talk about having blood on your hands...
I just put a pair of snippers in my crag pack. I plan to clip any small* hemlock branches that protrude into trails as I walk up to the walls, and encourage others to do the same. Those of you participating in trail-days, I encourage you to let volunteers know about this as well.
*sick/dying/injured trees are more susceptible to HWA than healthy ones, so use judgement when clipping a branch. trees can handle some light pruning, but I wouldn't remove anything huge--it's more the saplings and seedlings that we tend to brush up against, and those limbs are tiny.
If you want to learn more:
http://www.kyhemlocks.org/
