Brownie Troop 366 from St. Thecla Catholic School in Clinton Township, Michigan has raised $1,127.00 to help Great Smoky Mountains National Park combat hemlock woolly adelgids, a non-native insect discovered in the park in 2002. The insect has been responsible for the devastation of hemlock forests in southern New England and Mid-Atlantic states, killing over 80% of the hemlocks in some areas. A native of Asia, the insect is a relative of the balsam wooly adelgid, which has destroyed over 90% of Fraser firs on the park’s highest peaks.
The park contains approximately 5,000 acres of hemlock-dominated forest. In addition to these stands, hemlock trees mixed with other species are widely scattered throughout the park. Several of the oldest and tallest hemlocks in the east grow in the park's 700 acres of old growth hemlock stands. These trees are more than 400 years old and exceed 170 feet in height.
Along with concern about the future of the hemlocks themselves, biologists are worried about a ripple effect on mammals and birds dependent upon these trees for food and cover. Hemlocks also provide deep shade along creeks, helping to maintain water temperatures cool enough to sustain trout populations.
Current treatments include spraying infested trees with an insecticidal soap solution, injecting the soil around the tree roots with a systemic insecticide, and biological control using a non-native predator beetle that feeds exclusively on the adelgid. In the Smokies, accessible sites are treated using the insecticides, but widespread control using these methods is impractical to undertake in remote areas. In the long-term, biological control using predator beetles (which cost as much as two dollars each) appears to offer the most promise to combat infestations.
Last summer, Brownie Troop 366 co-leader Tanya Strait took a family vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains. After touring the visitor center and learning about the plight of the park's hemlocks, she decided that raising money to save the hemlocks would be a good community service project for her troop. On November 1-2, Tanya Strait and co-leader Peggy Domenick-Muscat led 57 Girl Scouts and countless parent volunteers in conducting a can and bottle drive to raise money to purchase predator beetles. Wielding posters with the slogans "Save a Hemlock Tree" and "Buy a Beetle for a Buck," the girls canvassed neighborhoods around their school asking for monetary donations and collecting cans and bottles to turn in for deposit refunds. Their efforts raised $1,127.00 to help the park save hemlocks.
Scientists are hopeful that since the adelgid infestation in the park is still in its early stages the chance for successful treatment will be good. The funds generously donated to the park by Brownie Troop 336 will help with this vital effort. Quoting from the superintendent's letter thanking the girls for their efforts, "It is a very heartwarming to see young people assume such a proactive role. Certainly America is in good hands if it is indeed filled with youngsters similar to those in your troop."
For more information about hemlock woolly adelgids as well as photographs visit the USDA Forest Service website http://www.fs.fed.us/na/morgantown/fhp/palerts/hemlock/hemlock.htm. For more information on the park’s hemlock woolly adelgid programs contact Kristine Johnson, Supervisory Forester, Great Smoky Mountains National Park at (865) 436-1707.
