"We'll go at 45 degrees for 10 paces and choose our first tree maybe," says Alison Kanoti, an entomologist with the Maine Forest Service. She directs a group of volunteers as they prepare to head into an area of forest in southern Maine heavily populated with Hemlock trees. "Hemlock Wooly Adelgid is here. It has the potential to seriously degrade our Hemlock forests which are important for wildlife, recreation and water quality."
The hemlock wooly adelgid came from Japan to the US in the 1950s, says Kanoti, in a consignment of ornamental Japanese trees. It's fairly easy to recognize, she explains, pointing one out in a young Hemlock tree nearby. "The adelgid's going to be covered with that white wool. It's kind of a waxy material that actually comes out of pores in its body. It's a byproduct of feeding and it protects the insect from the sun, from moisture, from predators."
MPBN Reporter Tom Porter Interview Alison Kanoti, an entomologist with the Maine Forest Service, in the field. Photo courtesy Kittery Land Trust
Tom Porter: "But not from the Maine Forest Service..."
Alison Kanoti: "Well, no..."
Tom Porter: "It gives it away."
The pest first cropped up in Maine six years ago when it was 'discovered' on Gerrish Island off Kittery point, by Wayne Searles, a field technician with the forest service.
"Went down there on a Monday about 9.30 in the morning," Searles recalls, "and the first tree, there was just a little bit of white I saw on it, and I walked up this individual's driveway, and I can't believe I missed it, it almost looked snow-white. That was the beginning of it, that was in August of '03."
Frigid Maine winters kept the wooly adelgid more or less in check, confined to the Kittery-Wells area, Searles says, until about four years ago, when a couple of mild winters enabled the insect to start moving up the state. Last year, it was confirmed in Saco.
Now the Maine Forest Service is collecting data to find out how established HWA is.
So, clipboards in hands and following a predetermined pattern, Kanoti and Searles, accompanied by volunteers from the Kittery Land Trust, select random trees by walking through the forest at different angles. After 10 paces, they choose the first tree, which is positive. So are the next three.
The final tally though, was a little better, with nine blighted trees out of 20. That's an infection rate of 45%, still a worrying statistic, admits Alison Kanoti. Pruning and chemical treatment, she says, can be used to control HWA to a certain extent, but that's not an option in heavily wooded areas. One solution currently being tried out is the controlled release of certain species of beetles, imported from Asia and from the West Coast, which are the adelgid's natural predator.
Crucial to fighting HWA is the collection of data, says MJ Blanchette, a volunteer with the Kittery Land Trust, which manages about 12 properties in the area. "Hopefully this group will learn how to do this type of survey on our own so we can monitor our properties because the Maine Forest Service can't possible do all our properties for us."
State entomologist Alison Kanoti says she's keen to get the word out to Mainers in all parts of the state to keep an eye out for signs of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. If you think you may see evidence, email the Maine Forest Service: forestinfo@maine.gov