Forest

Disease That Could Wipe Out Black Walnut Trees in East Moving Toward New York

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A tree disease capable of wiping out black walnuts across the Eastern U.S. is heading for New York.

Thousand cankers disease has arrived in Ohio and Pennsylvania. It has not yet been found in New York state, but it could be on its way, or even here already.

"It could come into New York at any time," said Karen Snover-Clift, director of the plant...

The Latest on Hemlock Woolly Adelgid in Vermont

As the 2015-2016 hemlock woolly adelgid survey season got under way there was some concern for the condition of hemlock trees in southern Vermont. The preceding growing season included a period of sinificant drought. Trees on ledgy sites were showing signs of stress. Elongate hemlock scale had been found in the area, sometimes coexisting with HWA. As the winter wore on, temperatures were mild...

Warmer Winter Brings Forest-Threatening Beetles North

This winter has been the warmest on record in much of New England. And while many people enjoyed the T-shirt weather, it made Claire E. Rutledge, a researcher with Connecticut’s Agricultural Experiment Station, more concerned about what next season may hold.

Beginning in April, she will head to Wharton Brook and other state lands, setting traps for the southern pine beetle and checking...

A Foe of our Firs: a spotlight on balsam woolly adelgid

The balsam woolly adelgid is an invasive insect that attacks true firs (Abies, spp) in eastern and western forests.  In Vermont, the native balsam fir and a commonly used Christmas tree, Fraser fir, are susceptible. This insect originated in Europe; probably first arriving in the northeast around 1900. It has been reported in Vermont for many years.  In 2015, scattered...

UNH researchers aim to get upper hand on invasive plant

"DURHAM — After fighting the invasive glossy buckthorn for decades, Tom Lee, University of New Hampshire associate professor of forest ecology and NH Agricultural Experiment Station researcher, and Steve Eisenhaure, UNH Office of Woodlands and Natural Areas land use coordinator, have planted an entire orchard of the shrub at UNH's Kingman Farm.

Using this orchard, their team is looking...

Learn To Battle Invasive Plants At Free Sterling College Workshop

By DIANE BRONCACCIO

SHELBURNE CENTER, Massachusetts — It was only a year ago that Norman and Lisa Davenport first noticed sunlight flickering through the once-dense shade of a stand of hemlocks on their hilltop farmland.

And now those first trees look more like utility poles than conifers.

As the twin evils of elongate hemlock scale and hemlock woolly adelgid spread...