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We are very concerned about invasive species in the park.
They are one of the biggest problems
that we have because they can displace native species,
they can even change whole ecosystems.
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So, invasive species are basically a problem worldwide.
Even in our national parks, which
have the highest level of protection,
there are invasive species problems,
either because they were planted a long time ago or species just
move in by either people moving them in
or a lot of birds disperse berries.
So, they come in, they become established,
and then they create problems ecologically.
The best way to deal with invasive species
is to prevent them from getting into the park.
The next best way is to eradicate them
as soon as they are found.
And if we can't do either of those,
then we have to make decisions about which we will battle.
Because once they become established,
it becomes much more difficult and expensive to try
to control them.
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Hemlock woolly adelgid is a tiny insect that came from Japan
and has spread throughout the Eastern United States
from Georgia to Maine.
We discovered it in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation
Area in 1989.
From our monitoring studies we estimate more than 40%
of the hemlock trees have died and most of the remaining trees
are in various stages of moderate to severe decline.
Hemlock woolly adelgid is a case of what some people call
an invasive species meltdown.
So, you have, initially, just one invasive species
leading to a cascade invasion of many, many, many other invasive
species, changing the whole habitat and ecosystem.
We have treated well over 10,000 trees in the park
but those treatments are neither financially
or ecologically sustainable.
We do not want to be treating many, many thousands of hemlock
trees indefinitely with insecticides.
So, we just did that as a stopgap measure,
largely to maintain habitats that
were very important for other species like brook trout.
That's why the woolly adelgid is such an important pest
for us to try to control, because it doesn't just
affect a tree or trees, it can change the whole ecosystem.
It changes the whole habitat.
The whole forest is changing.
Inventory and monitoring is something that goes on often
behind the scenes.
A lot of visitors aren't even aware that it's going on,
that there are teams of scientists
out there monitoring the health of these ecosystems.
Each Inventory and Monitoring Network
has a list of vital signs that are
a way for us to really check up on the health of the park,
whether that's looking at forest health monitoring, measuring
tree regeneration and soil quality,
or we can look at something like water quality.
Invasive Species Early Detection and Monitoring Program
is a protocol that we set up and is designed
to look at new invasive species and incipient plants,
insects, and other organisms that
are not in the parks yet but may pose a threat in the future.
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We have great concerns about invasives, both plants
and animals, that are coming our way.
Emerald ash borers, for example, that attack
ash trees and red pine scale.
So far, knock on wood, we do not have any hemlock woolly adelgid
in Acadia National Park, but we expect
that it's on the doorstep.
The Inventory and Monitoring Network,
because they're out in the park on a regular basis,
provide real-time eyes on the ground
and will help with really rapid early detection
of those invasives.
That's a really powerful opportunity
when something has not yet established a foothold here.
And we can actually go in and remove it and keep it out
of the parks.
So, the exotic plant management team's job
is to remove exotic plants that are invasive in the park.
They're generally focused on species
that could become a problem but they're still
at levels that are manageable.
And a lot of what they do is either mechanical removal where
they're cutting down shrubs.
So, in some areas where there's really
dense example of a invasive species,
they'll actually spray the leaves with a herbicide.
It's the easiest way for them to kill the plant.
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The mission of the National Park Service
is to protect the natural and cultural resources
of all our parks forever.
So, we take that mission really to heart.
The Inventory and Monitoring Network work
is a perfect example of that mission in action.
The I&M scientists are out in our parks
so that they can provide real-time, good science
for management decisions so that we
can take care of those resources in perpetuity
for the American people.
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