Invasive Species News

Emerald Ash Borer Found for First Time in Eastern Long Island

DEC and Cornell Cooperative Extension Suffolk County announced that emerald ash borer (EAB) has been confirmed for the first time in Eastern Long Island, on private property in the Town of Southold. Cornell Cooperative Extension confirmed larval specimens from infested trees earlier this month.

EAB is native to Asia and was first discovered in the U.S. in 2002 in southeastern Michigan. This invasive beetle infests and kills North American ash species (Fraxinus), including green, white, black and blue ash.

The public should send suspect samples and direct inquiries to the local Cooperative Extension Diagnostic Lab office in Suffolk County and in Nassau County. The public can also report occurrences of EAB and other invasive species to DEC's Forest Health Diagnostic Laboratory by e-mailing photographs to foresthealth@dec.ny.gov.

Visit DEC's website for more information about emerald ash borer. 

The emerald ash borer is smaller than a penny. Photo: Howard Russell, MI State University, www.forestryimages.org

$3 Million in Grant Funding Available for Invasive Species Management Projects

DEC's Division of Lands and Forests has announced $3 million in grant funding for invasive species prevention, control and research projects in New York State. The grants are made available by the state Environmental Protection Fund and range from $11,000 to $100,000 with a required 25 percent match.

Municipalities, not-for-profits, and academic institutions may submit applications for grant funding in up to two of the following categories: early detection and rapid response, research, lake management plans, and aquatic invasive species spread prevention. For more details about this grant program, including eligible projects and scoring criteria, please see the Request for Application on DEC's website. DEC will accept applications until 3 p.m. on Friday, February 15, 2019. All grant applicants must register in the NYS Grants Gateway System before applying. Not-for-profit applicants are required to "pre-qualify" in the system, so DEC encourages them to start the process well in advance of the due date.

DEC is hosting a "how-to" webinar about this grant program at 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 17 for interested applicants and will post a recording of the webinar online for those who cannot attend. You can find more information regarding the webinar on the DEC's website.

Take Time to Inspect Your Hemlocks this Winter

You can help protect New York's forests this winter by learning how to identify and report hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). This invasive forest pest kills hemlock trees in the eastern United States. HWA can be difficult to spot because of its small size, so infestations are best identified by the white, woolly masses the insects create to protect themselves and their eggs. These woolly masses are most easily seen from November through April and are found at the base of the needles on infested hemlock trees.

Visit DEC's webpage for information on how to report possible infestations, as well as what you can do to help slow the spread of this invasive pest.

Top photo: White woolly egg masses on a hemlock branch. Photo by Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station

Bottom photo: Hemlock woolly adelgid adults at the base of a twig's needles. Photo by Mark Whitmore