Beech Leaf Disease, first detected in the Lake George watershed in July, 2023 and which has since spread throughout the state-designated Lake George Wild Forest, will be among the topics discussed at “Eastern Hemlocks, Forest Health and Threats to the Future,” a workshop to be held September 21 at YMCA Camp Chingachgook in Pilot Knob.
The workshop is sponsored by the Warren and Washington County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Lake George Land Conservancy and the NYS Conservation District Employees’ Association.
“The content of this forest health workshop will focus on managing our forest for adaptation and resiliency with exploration of known threats affecting out forest ecosystems,” said Jim Lieberum of the Warren County SWCD.
Among the speakers will be Dr. Mark Whitmore, the Cornell University forest entomologist who is the nation’s foremost expert on hemlock wooly adelgid.
Whitmore will first cover the history of the hemlock woolly adelgid and among other topics discuss: the adelgid’s basic biology; its impact on hemlock trees and forests; its distribution; its management through insecticides; and current efforts to combat it with biological controls.
Whitmore will then discuss Beach Leaf Disease: its biology; its signs and symptoms; its impact on beech trees; and the options available for managing it.
Beech Leaf Disease was first detected at the western edge of the Adirondack Park in 2021. While surveying the Cat and Thomas Mountains section of the Adirondack Forest Preserve last summer, Forest Health technicians from the Department of Environmental Conservation discovered a Beech Leaf Disease infestation along a trail on Bolton’s Edgecomb Pond property.
BLD spreads quickly across the landscape, according to the DEC. Once a forest stand is infected, no single individual tree is left untouched. BLD will kill mature trees in six to ten years and saplings in as little as two years, the agency stated.
“Many American beech trees are already heavily impacted by beech bark disease, but Beech Leaf Disease appears to be an even bigger threat,” said acting DEC Commissioner Sean Mahar. “The decline of beech in New York could have far-reaching consequences, including significant changes to the composition of our northern hardwood forests and the loss of a valuable food source for wildlife, from birds to bears.”
Scientists associate BLD with a particular species of worm, but according to the Nature Conservancy-based Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP) “no one knows for sure if the worm is the full cause.”
APIPP Director Tammara Van Ryn said, “Beech trees are a foundation species in our Adirondack forests, which means they play a significant role in creating and maintaining habitats that support other species.”
According to APIPP, beech trees are the third most common species in the Adirondacks and account for just over 12.5% of forest volume. Hemlock and ash, which are also under attack from invasive species, account for another 12.5%.
Discussing the importance of these species are to Adirondack ecosystems, Van Ryn said, “Imagine that the hemlock trees in our forests serve as the ‘buildings’ that keep species cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and beech trees are the ‘grocery store.’ Beech trees provide food for dozens of species, from bees to bears. Beech nuts have about twice as much protein and calories per edible portion as acorns do. That is why they are such an important food source for bears, turkeys, deer, squirrels, and chipmunks.”
Beech Leaf Disease is one three new nonnative terrestrial pests have emerged to threaten the forests of the Lake George watershed, along with Hemlock Wooly Adelgid and Emerald Ash Borer.
Beech Bark Disease established itself much earlier, though it was discovered on Dome Island less than twenty years ago. For decades, it was thought that Dome’s isolated location and protected status had inoculated it against the disease.)
Speaking at the Adirondack Invasive Species Summit on October 19, 2022 an event sponsored by APIPP and held in Blue Mountain Lake, the late Dr. Gary Lovett said that “almost every beech tree in the Adirondacks shows some evidence of Beech Bark Disease.”
For more information about the September 21 forest health workshop, visit https://warrenswcd.org/hemlocks/
