8/18/2011
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) is conducting a cooperative pilot project that will assist woodlot owners in treating hemlock trees in Fayette County and part of Nicholas County for hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) on a cost share basis. HWA is a non-native insect that causes decline and death to hemlocks.
“This project is the first attempt by any state to assist woodlot owners with hemlock woolly adelgid control,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass. “Treatments will not eradicate these insects, but treated trees should be protected from adelgid damage for four to five years.”
The WVDA HWA Cooperative “Pilot” Project is a cooperative suppression pilot between landowners, the WVDA and USDA-Forest Service. Ground treatments of individual trees will be done in the project area on a demand basis to minimize damage to the hemlock resource and reduce the impact of HWA in future years.
“The WVDA will treat HWA with either CoreTect for soil treatments or ImaJet for stem injection,” said WVDA Forest Entomologist Tim Tomon. “The treatment method will be determined by a WVDA Forest Health Protection Specialist after a site evaluation has been completed.”
The site evaluation will only be conducted if the landowner meets the below project qualifications:
1. Only private lands within the project area are included in the pilot project area.
2. More than 50 percent canopy cover of hemlocks.
3. A woodlot with a minimum of 5 acres. (Adjacent landowners may cooperate to meet the minimum acreage requirement, providing that both landowners qualify for treatment and participation in the project.)
4. Landowners with less than 5 acres may qualify for treatment if the proposed treatment area is adjacent to an area that is being managed for HWA.
5. Trees must have more than 50 percent foliage.
6. Only trees that have never been treated or not treated within the last four years.
7. Areas proposed for treatment may not pose a safety risk to WVDA field personnel.
Landowners who want to participate in the HWA Pilot Project must complete an application.
Along with the application, the property owner is responsible for providing a 7.5-minute topographic map or an aerial photo with the property boundary marked on it, or an ESRI shape file projected in UTM Zone 17-NAD 83.
Signup began August 15 and will continue through September 30, 2011.
For more information about the Project or to receive an application, call WVDA Plant Industries at 304-558-2212. Applications and brochures may be downloaded at:
http://www.wvagriculture.org/images/Plant_Industries/About_Us.html. A map of the project area is included in the brochure.
Contact Information
Buddy Davidson, Communications Officer
304-558-3708; 304-541-5932 (cell)
bdavidson@ag.state.wv.us