On Friday, May 19, staff from the Hemlock Restoration Initiative will guide an educational hike at Holmes Educational State Forest.
HRI and the NC Forest Service partnered together to chemically treat these hemlocks for hemlock woolly adelgid back in 2016 and are in the process of retreating them this year. The hike will take participants past a hemlock health monitoring plot to discuss methods of evaluating treatment success. Overall, participants can expect to learn about hemlock ecology, the threat of the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid, and a variety of different control methods being used on both state and national forests in NC, as well as on other public and private lands across the range of eastern hemlock. An educational ranger from the NC Forest Service will also join the hike and provide more specific information about Holmes.
The hike will meet at 12:30 p.m., and participants can expect to return to their vehicles around 4 p.m. We will start from the south entrance to the forest, off of the Old CCC Rd. and hike a two-mile figure-8 loop through the upper portions of the forest’s hemlock conservation area. The route is all on-trail on easy to moderate terrain. There will be a few ascents and descents but not too much elevation gain or loss.
For any questions or to register, contact Thom Green at info@savehemlocksnc.org or 828-252-4783. While the hike is free to attend, your RSVP is required. Please sign up by Tuesday, May 16.
Holmes Educational State Forest is located just north of DuPont State Recreational Forest and about 15 minutes from Brevard, NC. Click here for the forest location in Google Maps (not the exact meeting location).