healthy hemlocks in the foreground of the Carl Sandburg Home. Photo by: Trip Advisor

The plight of the hemlock seems to be garnering more attention as of late. On Friday April 7, 2017 the Asheville Citizen Times featured an article in its ‘local’ section about the important work that is being done to conserve hemlocks at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock North Carolina.

Land managers at the site are employing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy to combat the problem of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA). The approach involves the combined use of chemical insecticides and the release or Laricobius nigrinus ‘Lari’ predator beetles which feed on HWA.  These two methods, when used in combination, deliver both effective protection for Sandburg Home’s trees and ecological sensitivity with an eye toward long term conservation of the site.

Read all about it at the Asheville Citizen-Times:

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2017/04/07/sandburg-home-ramps-up-hemlock-woolly-adelgid-fight/100128974/

and on the Carl Sandburg Home Website:

https://www.nps.gov/carl/learn/nature/hemlocks.htm