2026 Winter Terrestrial Updates

This article was featured in the 2026 winter newsletter by Robert Smith, SLELO PRISM.

2025 Field Survey Results

Results of last summer’s field season showed the presence of 14 Tier invasive species. Of the 113 highly probable areas (HPAs) that we visited, the most common species found was common buckthorn, present at 42 HPAs, followed by honeysuckle at 39 Sites, pale swallowwort at 28 Sites, and wild parsnip at 27 sites.

The fewest number of tier invasive species occurred at Three Mile Creek Preserve with 3, while the largest number of tier invasive species was found at Tug Hill ISPZ with 11 species. The field report that includes this information is now available on the SLELO PRISM website.

2026 Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Monitoring

We started our HWA surveys in January and plan to survey up to 14 sites. We brought back some sites, such as Sandy Creek State Forest and Three Mile Bay WMA and removed Great Bear Recreational Area and SUNY Oswego where HWA was found last year. In addition, one new site, Pixley Falls State Park. Four of the sites we have surveyed in previous years will also be collaboratively surveyed by SLELO PRISM and OPRHP, including Pixley Falls. This additional staffing will increase efforts and the probability of detecting HWA.

In December we hosted an introductory HWA webinar, Session 2 was held at Independence Park on 12/18, a site known to be infested with HWA. In addition to staff surveys, volunteer led surveys will be led by our Education and Outreach Coordinator, Megan Pistolese-Shaw, in collaboration with the Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust at Trenton Greenbelt, Forest Park, and Salmon River Falls. Sign up to join!

Lastly, we will be conducting an HWA Mortality Survey at Independence Park in early April to determine the percentage of HWA that survived the winter. This varies from year to year, depending on the severity of the winter, and has an effect on the degree of spread that may occur during the rest of the year. Results of these surveys will be posted in a later edition of the newsletter and in the 2026 HWA Survey Report on our website.