Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

The hemlock woolly adelgid has made its way to Allegany State Park. The NYS Parks Office says the invasive insect that kills hemlock trees was found by trained citizen scientist volunteers at two locations while performing area searches within the park. The find was confirmed by the State Department of Agriculture and Markets. The State Parks Office says it has taken steps to eliminate the hemlock woolly adelgid and will step up efforts to find additional infestations. The insect was on the Allegheny National Forest last year in the Tionesta Research Natural Area, Cook Forest and Clear Creek state parks this past spring, and near the Clarion and Allegheny rivers as well as Webbs Ferry. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) urged the U.S. Forest Service to conduct a study to determine whether a successful strategy in place in the southern U.S. to combat an invasive species, the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), could be used in the northern U.S. as well. If effective this strategy could help the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) which is battling the HWA. The HWA is rapidly destroying hemlock trees which are a major part of the ANF’s ecosystem. The ANF is a key source of Pennsylvania’s timber industry which accounted for $7.2 million in sales in 2012 that have been as high as $25.6 million in the last decade. The new strategy, in place in West Virginia, has deployed a beetle to biologically control the HWA. “The Allegheny National Forest is one of Pennsylvania’s great natural treasures and an important element of Northwestern Pennsylvania’s economy,” Senator Casey said in a news release sent to WESB. “Conducting this study has the potential to determi...

The Nature Conservancy, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and the United States Forest Service (US Forest Service) are organizing a workshop aimed at training volunteers to identify and report new hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) infestations in northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York. The workshop will be held on Tuesday, March 25, 2014, from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford, Fisher Hall Room 107. The training will take place at 300 Campus Drive, Bradford, Pennsylvania. The workshop will feature presentations by Dale Luthringer of DCNR about eastern hemlock values and threats, by Rick Turcotte of US Forest Service on the adelgid’s biology and the threat it poses to local hemlock forests, and by Sarah Johnson of The Nature Conservancy on the High Allegheny Plateau Conservation Strategy. Participants will gain experience in detection, monitoring, and reporting protocols for hemlock woolly adelgid. Par...

More hemlock woolly adelgid have been found on the Allegheny National Forest. The invasive insect from Asia was found in the West Fork area of the Tionesta Research Natural Area by DCNR personnel on November 20 and confirmed by the state Department of Agriculture on Monday. The hemlock woolly adelgid threatens trees and the biodiversity they support in parks and forests, according to the US Forest Service. An infestation causes environmental changes for some wildlife, fish and plants because of increased light and warmer temperatures when hemlock trees die. The insect was found in Cook Forest and Clear Creek state parks this past spring, and on the forest near the Clarion and Allegheny rivers and Webbs Ferry. The forest service is partnering with The Nature Conservancy, DCNR, game commission, New York Department of Environmental Conservation and New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to develop a strategy for the high Allegheny Plateau of Pennsylvania and Ne...

Several hemlock trees in the Allegheny National Forest in Warren County have been infected by the Hemlock woolly adelgid. Tests by both the US and Pennsylvania departments of agriculture have confirmed that the insect has infested trees within a proposed wilderness area. The Hemlock woolly adelgid is a small insect native to East Asia that feeds by sucking sap from hemlock trees. In eastern North America, it is a destructive pest that poses a major threat to the Eastern hemlock. Friends of Allegheny Wilderness will be organizing a volunteer outing in the near future to hike further into the area in an attempt to ascertain the extent of the infestation there. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) announced that he has sent a letter to the Chief of U.S. Forest Service, Tom Tidwell, urging the agency to develop a plan to combat a new threat of invasive species in the Allegheny National Forest (ANF). Right now the ANF is beset by Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and the Emerald Ash Borer, threatening Pennsylvania’s timber industry in Northwestern Pennsylvania, which last year alone saw $7 million in timber sales. In his letter, Casey asked the U.S. Forest Service to model any efforts to combat the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and the Emerald Ash Borer after other efforts to confront the growth of the Gypsy Moth. “The Allegheny National Forest is one our state’s treasures and a key part of the economy in Northwestern Pennsylvania,” Senator Casey said. “The health of the Allegheny National Forest is directly related to the health of Northwestern Pennsylvania’s timber industry and the jobs it supports. I’m urging the Forest Service to tak...