This article was featured in the 2023 Winter Newsletter by Robert Smith-SLELO PRISM.
2022 Early Detection Field Surveys:
Results of last summer’s field season showed the presence of nine of the 10 invasive species that we have seen during previous surveys. Giant Hogweed was the only tier invasive species not present at these six PCAs. Of the 142 HPAs that we visited, the most common species found was pale swallow-wort, which was found at 89 sites. Honeysuckle and common buckthorn were the second and third most common, found at 44 and 35 HPAs respectively. The fewest number of tier invasive species occurred at Chaumont Barrens Preserve with only 3 (Pale Swallowwort, Common Buckthorn, Honeysuckle), while the largest number of tier invasive species occurred at Deer Creek WMA, Lakeview WMA, and Oneida Lake/Three Mile Bay WMA with 8 species found. The field report that includes this information will be available on our Field Reports page on our website.
2022 Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Surveys:
We are currently conducting HWA surveys. This year, we selected 14 sites to survey, and two sites, Chateaugay and Trout Brook State Forest will be surveyed if time permits. These are basically the same sites that we surveyed last year, with the exception of Winona State Forest, which replaces Noyes Bird Sanctuary, where we found HWA last year. So far, we have completed 2 sites, Rainbow
Shores and Camp Zerbe, and have not detected HWA. As usual, we will alert members of the SLELO PRISM community if we find HWA at any of these sites.
Urban Forest Sustainability Initiative 2020-2022:
As you probably know, we have been promoting the Urban Forest Sustainability Initiative for the last three years. We have offered communities an urban forest sustainability guide, a presentation about the program, urban forest resources on the SLELO PRISM website, and up to $5,000 reimbursement for the purchase of non-invasive trees. During this 3-year period, 7 communities participated in the program, those being Watertown, Massena, Canton, Pulaski, Ogdensburg, Potsdam, and Sackets Harbor. This means we were able to reimburse up to $29,000 for the purchase of non-invasive trees. Under our current contract, we will not be able to offer any reimbursements for tree purchases in 2023, but we do plan to continue promoting the UFSI Guide to other communities.
For more information on these or other terrestrial restoration and resiliency projects please reach out to Robert Smith at robert.l.smith@tnc.org
