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JULY 30, 2009 ISSUE

Going, Going, Gone? Can We Save the Hemlocks From the Wooly Adelgid?

Series 4, Part 3: Do Something! Empowering the Individual to Save the Hemlocks

Story by Sam Calhoun

After the last article in this year’s series on the spread of the hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA)—a tiny insect that is killing trees thousands of times its size—and its deadly infestation of indigenous hemlocks in the High Country and up and down the East Coast, a reader asked for more specifics concerning what individuals can do to stop the death of local hemlocks. High Country Press once again turned to the expertise of Dr. Richard McDonald, who is sole proprietor of Symbiont Pest Management, former biocontrol administrator of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and one of the leading researchers on HWA biocontrols in the nation.

A team of researchers from the USDA Forest Service, the North Carolina Division of Forestry and Virginia Tech are working with McDonald at several predatory beetle release sites in the High Country area. They are slowly proving that the winter predatory beetles eat a high percentage of adelgids and can create a balance for the HWA and subsequently help to save the local ecosystem. McDonald created this list to empower local people to save as many hemlocks as possible.

Power of the Individual - Nine Important Points
“We’ve got something for everyone to do on the list. If they are concerned, there is something they can do,” said McDonald. “It’s time for us to be proactive concerning our environment.”

According to McDonald, the following are nine points locals can adopt to help save the hemlocks.

1. Call your local, state and federal representatives and tell them to support and expand the HWA predator program. The High Country’s program has been running under the auspices of Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development (BRRC&D). For more information, click to www.blueridgercd.org. BRRC&D will organize a regional meeting in the High Country soon to update all concerned citizens about the latest developments in biological, chemical and integrated control methods against the HWA.

2. Support the efforts in the local area. The USDA Forest Service, local N.C. Cooperative Extension offices and the N.C. Division of Forestry are excellent sources for additional information. “I hope residents will find out what is currently going on by talking to local community groups, and then fill in where needed,” added McDonald.

3. Buy time for your hemlocks. Treat hemlocks that are infested in order to buy enough time until beetles are available. Treat trees, according to label directions, with Neem, Merit, insecticidal soap or horticultural oil. Also, treating trees with compost tea can supply them the nutrients they need to regrow needles. A do-it-yourself recipe for fungal compost tea is included in this article.

4. Organize by watershed. Get as many of your neighbors together as possible and get on the list to get beetles. Understanding that each tree cannot be saved, McDonald believes the plan of attack should be to have local communities organize around their local watershed, find out if anybody is releasing beetles and, if not, get in line to do so themselves. To assist in the release, McDonald is hoping that local insectaries and/or hemlock nurseries come online to rear the beetles needed for such a large release. To begin, McDonald suggests focusing predatory beetle releases on the headwaters flowing from Grandfather Mountain, including the Watauga River, Linville River, New River, Yadkin River and Toe River. By protecting the headwaters, locals will assure that the water in these rivers originate in a cool, shaded place—an essential factor for preservation of the local ecosystem. In addition, McDonald hopes a website will be developed that will include contact information for local volunteers who are in charge of each watershed.

5. Adopt a grove. If you don’t have hemlocks, you can still help by selecting a grove or favorite set of trees and making sure they get some protection, chemical or biological. “The beetles are coming,” assured McDonald. “We are rearing some in labs, and soon the field insectaries will yield beetles, too.”

6. Understand that this is a green business opportunity. Saving hemlocks can continue to generate income for local arborists and other concerned enterprises. A good example of this is the inception of local hemlock nurseries. According to McDonald, when biocontrols are in place, whole forests that were killed can be replanted and will regrow, and local arborists and nursery owners will play a huge part in that process. Arborists need to become familiar with beetles as the predators become more available and how arborists and local communities and resorts can integrate predators into an Integrated Pest Management Program to sustainably suppress the HWA.

7. Replant areas of dieback with new hemlocks and predators. “As predators become more available, we will be able to go back into areas that have experienced significant dieback and replant with seedlings and beetles,” added McDonald. Also, areas that have other conifers, like pines and spruce, have different adelgids that can sustain predatory beetles during the summer when HWA is dormant.

8. Get ready for the next wave of forest insects. According to McDonald, in the future, the High Country will become more vulnerable to new waves of forest insects, including the Asian Longhorn Beetle, the Pine Sirex Beetle and the Emerald Ash Borer, to name a few.

9. Remember that “our green is our gold,” said McDonald. “Hemlocks are unique in our ecosystem; nothing can replace their stream cooling ability.” Hemlocks are referred to in scientific circles as “nature’s air conditioning” for their important role in the ecosystem. Hemlocks grow primarily along riverbanks and beside lakes. Their branches create dense shade that cools the water, allowing trout and other fish populations to thrive. If there were no hemlocks, area waterways would heat up in the sun and reach temperatures too high to support many varieties of aquatic life, and refuge for wildlife would be ruined. What’s more, our dense coverage of hemlocks in the High Country cools our climate; their shade helps foster 50 degree summer mornings and cool breezes.

“If we don’t save the hemlocks, then you can say goodbye to trout and other cool water fish and invertebrate species; also over 90 species of birds nest in hemlocks, not to mention their value as wildlife cover and forage,” added McDonald.

To read the entire series, click to www.highcountrypress.com and search “hemlock.”

Fungal Compost Tea Formula

The following recipe is for a fungal compost tea that can be used to reinvigorate health for hemlocks, other conifers, strawberries and blueberries. The recipe is per 100 gallons of water. Homeowners can purchase the tea’s ingredients locally at Southern States, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Southern Agricultural Supply and/or Miller’s Farm Supply. The tea is bubbled and is ready between 18 and 24 hours. Once mixed, the tea must be used within six hours. The tea feeds symbiotic fungi in the soil that feed the hemlock and other fungal-based plants.

Fungal-based Plant Compost Tea
Ingredients:
6 ounces—soluble Acadian kelp
8 ounces—soluble humic acid (74 percent humic acid, 20 percent fulvic acid)
8 ounces—dry molasses
8 ounces—ground corn gluten
24 ounces—ground insoluble humic acid
4 ounces—summa minerals or equivalent mineral mix

Preparation:
Put about two to three pounds of fresh, healthy compost in a screen bag that will be used to create the compost tea. Save bag with compost to put in after mixing other ingredients. Mix water and all other ingredients in a 100-gallon drum (or half the recipe and mix it in a 50-gallon clean drum) and then oxygenate the water at 70 degrees or so. Keep entire setup out of the sun. To oxygenate, or bubble, the water, McDonald recommends purchasing a bubble block from a local pet store and submerging it in the drum once the water and ingredients are mixed. Suspend the tea bag with compost in the water. The bag should be completely submerged so that the compost and its microbes can steep into the mixture. Once mixed and oxygenated for 18 to 24 hours, the tea should have a fresh leafy smell. Remove tea bag and put compost back on compost pile. Apply tea to root system of tree(s) within six hours. Irrigate compost tea around the root system and repeat until soil in the drip zone under the canopy is drenched to soaking. Use excess tea as a kind of liquid fertilizer for other garden, fruit or yard plants as well.