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 The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is in the mid to late stages of destroying the Eastern Hemlock throughout the Southern Appalachians. DuPont State Forest depends on both the Carolina and Eastern Hemlock to provide deep shade for its cold water trout habitat.
Friends of DuPont Forest is deeply concerned about the decline of DuPont's hemlocks, and is working with Division of Forest Resources (DOFR) staff on several projects. FODF has assisted DOFR staff in releasing Sasi beetles, which are a natural predator of the HWA pest. FODF has also funded the release of the Sasi beetles on a private hemlock ecosystem directly adjacent to DuPont State Forest. FODF volunteers have recently begun assisting DOFR staff in monitoring the effectiveness of both the biological controls (Sasi beetle) and chemical controls (which are targeting several hundred individual specimens throughout the Forest for survival). Like DuPont State Forest, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is engaged in both predator beetle releases and chemical control of individual specimens (see the Great Smoky Mountains National Park HWA page). However, as everyone involved admits, chemical controls are only a stop-gap measure to preserve a relatively small number of specimens. Any hope for survival of the rich cove ecosystems that the hemlock provide rests in the success of some form of biological control. Visit http://www.dupontforest.com/hwa.asp (Images courtesy of DuPont Forest.)
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