Have you seen a spotted lanternfly? If you live in New England, and answered “no,” that’s good. But we’ll have to check back with you next year.
The lanternfly is one of the latest foreign invasive insect pests to become established in North America. And it isn’t a picky eater. Dozens of crops and native trees are go-to foods for this destructive bug. » Continue Reading.
The Town of Colton is set to kick off its summer schedule on Wednesday, June 26th with a music performance and ice cream social from 6 to 8 pm in the Colton-Pierrepont Central School (CPCS) Cafeteria. » Continue Reading.
With the start of camping season underway, Department of Environmental Conservation is reminding campers that the New York State firewood transportation regulation is still in effect.
Untreated firewood may contain invasive pests that kill trees, and to protect New York’s forests, untreated firewood should not be moved more than 50 miles from its source of origin. » Continue Reading.
2019 will be the fourteenth summer that the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) has operated its boat launch steward program. Stewards greet boaters on Lake Champlain in New York, Vermont and Québec from Memorial Day to late September. They inspect their boats for invasive organisms, and share information about the threats they pose. » Continue Reading.
The season of daylight and blooming flowers has finally arrived. But, along with the emergence of all things green, comes the emergence of all sorts of flies, bugs, mites, worms, and mollusks. Many of these are unwelcome home, garden, and agricultural pests which, as the weather continues to warm, will only become more active.
Early season leaf- and plant-feeding insects are on every grower’s mind. And this year, grape growers, orchardists, nursery operators, home-gardeners, and others are advised to be aware of the potential for the appearance of yet another invasive pest from Asia. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Council is urging the NYS Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to protect the park’s priceless rivers and lakes from harmful invasive species by renewing the law that forbids the spread of non-native plants and animals from one lake or river to another.
The Council is also urging lawmakers to add a provision requiring that all boats be decontaminated before they are launched in Adirondack waters. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Warren County Cornell Cooperative Extension are set to host a workshop on hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) on April 11, at the DEC Region 5 Office in Warrensburg, NY, from 5 to 8 pm.
The hemlock woolly adelgid, a tiny insect from East Asia first discovered in New York in 1985, attacks forest and ornamental hemlock trees. It feeds on young twigs, causing needles to dry out and drop prematurely and causing branch dieback. Hemlock decline and mortality typically occur within four to 10 years of infestation in the insect’s northern range. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that $3 million is available in the first round of the State’s newly consolidated Invasive Species Grant Program.
To support projects that target both aquatic and terrestrial invasive species across the state, DEC combined previous funding opportunities, including the Aquatic Invasive Species Spread Prevention and the Aquatic and Terrestrial Invasive Species Early Detection/Rapid Response grants, into a single grant program. DEC is accepting applications for these grants through February 15, 2019. » Continue Reading.
An educational program, “Emerging Invasive Forest Pests: Identification, Prevention & Management,” has been set for Wednesday, January 16th, 2019 from 9 am to 3:30 pm at the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Education Center’s Classroom A, 40 West Main Street in Canton, NY.
The program will provide information on four invasive species in the Adirondacks, Asian Spotted Lanternfly; Asian Earthworms; Oak Wilt; and Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, as well as a Hemlock Woolly Adelgid scouting trip. » Continue Reading.
The 2019 edition of the Watercraft Inspection Program Leader educational webinar series developed by New York Sea Grant and featuring coastal science and AIS specialists begins on January 17 and will connect participants from multiple states.
Four sessions in the webinar series will address issues associated with recreational boating as a key pathway in the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS), making watercraft inspection a critical contributor to limiting the spread of AIS among the more than 7,000 lakes, ponds, and rivers in New York State and waters elsewhere. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Warren County Cornell Cooperative Extension have announced a workshop on hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) has been set for December 15, at the DEC Region 5 Office in Warrensburg.
Charlotte Malmborg, a natural resources technician with the New York State Hemlock Initiative at Cornell University (NYSHI), will provide information on the importance of hemlock trees in northeastern forests, the threat presented by HWA, and how landowners can identify and manage HWA infestations. She will also introduce New York State Hemlock Initiative’s research of biological control opportunities and describe the role of NYSHI in promoting hemlock conservation in New York State. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced a final Order on Consent, including a $2,500 penalty, with Tennessee Wholesale Nursery, LLC, Dennis Sons, and Tammy Sons for violating New York’s invasive species regulations.
The Tennessee nursery transported eastern hemlock seedlings infested with hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), a prohibited invasive species, to Oswego and Schenectady counties. Under the terms of the order, the nursery is required to provide DEC with monthly nursery stock orders for New York State through 2020 in order to continue doing business in New York State. » Continue Reading.
Watertown is poised to become an Emerald City, but that’s not good news. Jefferson and Lewis will soon be Emerald Counties, and St. Lawrence County began the process of change two years ago. Unfortunately, this kind of transformation does not involve happy endings.
When the emerald ash borer (EAB) kills an ash, something happens never before seen — the tree becomes brittle and hazardous very quickly, beyond anything in our experience in North America prior to this. Municipal leaders, DOT officials, woodlot owners, loggers, farmers and other land managers need to be well-informed in order to stay safe and avoid liability. » Continue Reading.
A total lunar eclipse is likely more common than the swift removal of a novel invasive plant infestation, but fingers are crossed that such a thing happened in St. Lawrence County this summer. The plant eradication, I mean — we all know about the celestial event this past July, the first central lunar eclipse since June 2011. Thanks to the sharp eyes of Dr. Tony Beane, a Professor of Veterinary Science at SUNY Canton who is also an avid naturalist, an exotic vine capable of smothering fields and forests has been eliminated within weeks of its confirmation in the Ogdensburg area. » Continue Reading.
Researchers have confirmed the presence of fishhook waterflea (Cercopagis pengoi) in Lake Champlain, bringing the known number of nonnative and aquatic invasive species in Lake Champlain to 51.
The discovery increases the likelihood of the invasive’s spread by recreationists into the Adirondack Park, which currently has at least 12 known aquatic invasive species in interior lakes where spiny waterflea has been spreading.
The fishhook waterflea is similar to the spiny waterflea, which was confirmed in Lake Champlain in 2014; they are both small crustaceans that are aggressive predators of zooplankton and are known to foul fishing lines. The Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario were the closest lakes known to host fishhook waterflea. Like the spiny waterflea, the fishhook waterflea likely arrived in Lake Champlain by hitchhiking over land on recreational boats, trailers, or equipment. » Continue Reading.
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