Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2018 - 64

ABOVE: Matt Cook measuring the diameter
at breast height of a hemlock AOG staff has
named Hope. The tree has experienced an
impressive recovery from its battle with the
hemlock woolly adelgid.
TOP RIGHT: The "dried cotton" appearance
of this hemlock branch shows that the predatory
beetle Loricobius nigrinus is doing its job as the
hemlock woolly adelgids are dead.
BELOW: Carrie Jubb displays the bottles
where the adult HWA females grow and lay
their eggs.

BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

affixes the capsules, and we move on to
the next tree. Above us, we can hear and,
sometimes see, customers zipping through
the canopy above. I hear such songbirds
as ovenbirds, American redstarts, scarlet
tanagers, red-eyed vireos, and hooded and
black-and-white warblers, and remark that
the hemlocks and other trees appear to be
part of a vibrant forest. In response, Cook
says that we should go see Hope.
Hope, I learn a short time later, is a
hemlock with a dbh of 30 inches, meaning that it is some 280 to 300 years old.
"Ten years ago, Hope was in dire
straits," says Cook. "Her canopy was very
thin and too much sunshine was coming
through her limbs. Now, because of our
treatments, she has not only survived but
also thrived."
I have one question remaining and it
is part of what Virginia Tech's Scott Salom
describes as the silvicultural option. What
should Blue Ridge Mountain landowners
do who have already lost their hemlocks,
as I have on my Johns Creek land in Craig
County, Virginia? For the answer, I contact
Katlin Mooneyham, forest health specialist for the Virginia Department of Forestry.

She suggests planting various conifers such
as the native white pine. In elevations of
over 3000 feet in areas where red spruces
are native, Tom McAvoy recommends the
planting of this tree. But the truth is, both
Mooneyham and McAvoy agree, that no
tree is the perfect replacement for the irreplaceable hemlock.
"It is not an equal tradeoff to replace
one conifer with another," he says. "For
example, neotropical songbirds like Acadian flycatchers, blue-headed vireos and
blackburnian and black-throated green
warblers prefer hemlocks for nesting. It is
not likely that they will be able to easily
switch to another evergreen to nest in. It's
more likely that they will suffer population declines."
The blackburnian warbler is even more
reliant on the hemlock in that it prefers
old growth hemlocks over younger age
stands. McAvoy adds that silvicultural options do not just mean planting an evergreen to replace a hemlock.
"One thing landowners with hemlocks
can do to increase their trees' chances for
survival is to prune or cut down any nearby trees that are shading them," he says.
"That way, the hemlocks would have less
competition for sunlight, thus improving
their overall health."
After my travels, I share the same optimism that caused AOG staff to give the
name "Hope" to a tree that they have
seen recover. I too feel more optimistic
about the future of the Eastern and Carolina hemlocks than I have in years. But
the battle will be a long one.
"When people ask me why we are fighting so hard against the hemlock woolly
adelgid, I respond by saying that people in
California would be fighting just as hard if
their giant redwoods were under attack,"
says Dave Arnold, one of the founders of
AOG. "Hemlocks to me are our redwoods.
We have to save them - it's that simple."
John Perez weighs in, too.
"I believe the long-term prognosis for
hemlocks is looking a little brighter than
10 years ago," he says. "The beetles have
become established [in the New River
Gorge National River] and are showing
signs of reducing HWA populations. However, I think that we will still lose the majority of hemlocks, but enough will survive to maintain the species."

http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2018