Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
January 24, 2008 issue
Rock For The Hemlock Concert at Cove Creek Gymnasium February 2
Story by Sam Calhoun
On Saturday, February 2, residents are invited to join in the fight against the hemlock wooly adelgid with Dr. Richard McDonald when he hosts the inaugural Rock for the Hemlock Concert at the Historic Cove Creek School gymnasium from 4:00 to 11:00 p.m.
Like a smaller, more grassroots Live Aid or Live 8, Rock for the Hemlock will feature two of McDonald’s bands, food, loads of information and speakers who will cover various topics of interest concerning the HWA and the beetles that McDonald is using to bracket and kill the HWA.
Many articles in High Country Press’ 2006 and 2007 series on the fight against the HWA included interviews with McDonald. Along with Virginia Tech and Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development, McDonald is leading the charge on the East Coast for using three kinds of predatory beetles to bracket each of the HWA’s two annual lifecycles and kill the insect that is killing trees thousands of times its size. McDonald’s work is being recognized up and down the East Coast, and he hopes the effort will save the East Coast’s hemlock population that will die in a matter of years if nothing is done.
McDonald—entomologist, sole proprietor of Symbiont Pest Management and former biocontrol administrator of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture—is hosting the event for a variety of reasons.
McDonald hopes the event will show public officials, landowners and resource managers that hemlocks can be saved by strategic releases of beneficial insects into every local watershed. He also hopes the event will produce funds necessary to collect thousands of Laricobius nigrinus beetles in the Pacific Northwest that will be distributed on the East Coast, to monitor the impact of the beetles at selected sites and tree health, and to publish a guide sheet on the three types of beetles.
In addition, McDonald wants the event to draw attention to his efforts so he can work with the State of North Carolina to develop a line item in the budget for a full-time biological control agent in western North Carolina. Also, he hopes the event will begin a cycle to proactively address the impending arrival of other forest pests such as the emerald ash borer, Asian longhorn beetle and the pine sirex beetle.
The most important reason for the event, though, is to teach local landowners that the hemlock can be saved.
“If they come to this event, they will realize that they can save their hemlocks. Together, we can save the ecosystem and millions of trees,” said McDonald. “The consequences of not saving the hemlock will turn [the High Country] into a desert. If we give good information, then we can all make good decisions. I want people to realize that they need hemlocks and we can save the hemlocks. Our green is gold up here.”
To increase awareness about the hemlock crisis, McDonald and two childhood friends from Missouri created a CD titled Jars of Dark. The concept CD illuminates the trials of scientists trying to save the hemlock from the HWA and will be available for purchase at the event for $15, with all money going toward the cause.
McDonald’s band Steel Wave created Jars of Dark and will perform at the event. Together for more than three decades, Steel Wave features McDonald on drums and vocals, Daniel Button on guitar and vocals and Glenray Spencer on bass and vocals. Joining Steel Wave on the Cove Creek stage will be Laricobius—McDonald’s other band of 11 years that takes its name from the predatory beetle he uses to kill the HWA—that is comprised of Aubrey Sperlock on guitar and vocals, Kenny Johnson on bass and vocals, Blue Murrow on flute, guitar and vocals, Adrian Daw on guitar and vocals and McDonald on drums and vocals.
In addition to the music, the event will feature information kiosks on the HWA, handouts on the work done to combat the HWA, samples of HWA-infested hemlock branches and a donation booth for anyone who wants to help with the cause. At the event, McDonald will also recruit stewards for every area watershed.
Sponsors are still needed to fund the event, as well as to fund future trips to the West Coast to collect beetles to fight the HWA on the East Coast. To donate money or become a sponsor, call McDonald at 828-773-2680 or Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development at 828-297-5805.
For more information, call 828-773-2680.
Date: Saturday, February 2
Time: 4:00 to 11:00 p.m.
Location: Historic Cove Creek School Gymnasium
Cost: TBD