Asian carp. Burmese python. Hemlock woolly adelgid. These are just some of the most destructive pests and the world's worst invasive species that raise the hackles of fisherman, farmers, and wildlife managers everywhere they invade.
But how do they establish themselves and take over non-native species so effectively and efficiently?
As Memorial Day approaches and the summer camping season gets started, take a moment to think about the places that you love and how you can help to protect them. Chances are that trees make up a key component of these places. A spreading sugar maple, a towering ash; trees are vital to many of the places iconic to Vermont and New England.
The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a pest species that has killed tens of millions of ash trees and has the potential to kill most of the 8.7 billion ash trees in North America. The beetle, native to Asia, was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in 2002 in Michigan. Since then, it has spread into the eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada.
The long cold winter of 2014-2015 will go in the record books for a number of reasons. It certainly impacted Vermont’s hemlock woolly adelgid survey program. Hemlock woolly adelgid (hwa) is an invasive insect from Asia that feeds on hemlock trees. It has been known to be in southern Vermont since 2007; primarily in Windham County, with small isolated infestations in Windsor...
The lime-green flowers of the slender orchid known as the Small Whorled Pogonia used to bloom on forested slopes throughout New England, but they — and more than one-third of the region’s native orchids — are disappearing.
In all, 22 percent of all native plant species in New England are now either extinct, rare, or in a state of decline, strangled by invasive vines, trampled by...
In the early 1920s, the city planted thousands of red pines in Leeds in an effort to protect the nearby watershed.
Almost a century later, the trees populating the city's water supply land off Kennedy and Chesterfield roads are dying off rapidly, in part due to an invasive insect called the red pine scale. The pest first spread in southern New England, New York, New Jersey and eastern...
We are finally coming out of the deep freeze that we were in for pretty much all of February. Forty-three days below freezing in some parts of the state, 5-degree averages in Montpelier and Rutland. There will be some casualties of the cold weather – but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
In fact, this winter’s harsh weather is good news – at least temporarily – for those combating a...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking approval for the intentional release of an Asian species of parasitic wasp in order to combat the spread of an invasive beetle wreaking havoc on North American ash trees.
Baton Rouge, La. - The emerald ash borer, a severe insect pest of ash trees, has been confirmed in Webster Parish making Louisiana the 25th state to confirm the presence of this beetle.
Athens, Ga. - For the first time, University of Georgia researchers have successfully cryogenically frozen germplasm from hemlock trees being wiped out across the eastern U.S. by an invasive insect. They've also unlocked a new way to clone the few hemlock trees apparently fighting off the hemlock woolly adelgid, which could potentially lead to a solution for the pest.
A beetle that has killed thousands of acres of pines across the nation has infested much more of Long Island than previously thought, and state officials want to cut down trees in an effort to stop the spread of the pest before winter ends.
The southern pine beetle, first confirmed on Long Island in the fall, now has been found in an array of federal, state, county, town and...
The government has a plan to combat the spread of a tree-killing insect in the Finger Lakes National Forest.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said the U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to target the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid with biological and chemical control techniques.
In November, Schumer, D-N.Y., urged the U.S. Forest Service to make anti-adelgid efforts a funding priority.
Deep (and even not so deep) in the Frederick City Watershed in Frederick, Md., the Japanese stiltgrass grows in thick, luscious bunches. To the untrained eye, it's pretty, with its leafy layers blanketing the forest and transforming the ground into something out of a Grimm fairytale. But to those who know plants, the stiltgrass, along with several other invasive species , is less of a...
In 2012, the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets passed revisions to the Quarantine Rule. Below is the full press release as provided by the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets.
