Come hiking with HRI on Saturday, June 16th as we take a trip back to Holmes Educational State Forest to see areas where we and our volunteers chemically treated over 600 hemlocks in 2016 to protect them from the tiny, but deadly, non-native hemlock woolly adelgid. An important part of the work we do at the Hemlock Restoration Initiative is to return to areas that have been chemically treated to see how the trees have responded to treatment. Join us as we hike the trails through hemlock stands to see what the treated hemlocks look like over a year later.
We expect to see copious new foliage on the trees in response to their new lease on life! We’ll talk about why hemlocks are so important and why they’ve been needing our help. In addition to checking on our hemlock friends, we will listen to what Holmes’ special “talking trees” have to say about the forest they inhabit.
Total hike length: 3.5–4 miles
As the hike concludes we will demonstrate the techniques used to treat the hemlocks at Holmes, which you can use to treat the hemlocks at your own homes.
RSVP to volunteer@savehemlocksnc.org by Wednesday, June 13th to reserve a spot. The trail will be moderately strenuous in a few sections and is well maintained. Please bring a bag lunch, water, and appropriate clothes for the weather. We will meet at 9:30 am in the parking area just below the bathrooms at Holmes Educational State Forest, 1299 Crab Creek Rd, Hendersonville, NC 28739.