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May. 12, 2011

Maryland Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Mary Ellen Setting yesterday joined forest health inspectors from state and federal departments of agriculture, the Maryland Park Service, and the Maryland Conservation Corps (MCC) members to begin proactively treating the state’s premier hemlock stand at Swallow Falls State Park to protect the trees from the devastating impact of the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA).
The HWA is a small exotic insect native to Japan, discovered in Virginia in 1951, that has slowly spread along the east coast of the United States resulting in hemlock decline and death. In addition to enhanced surveillance, Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA), the park service, and MCC started proactively treating thousands of hemlocks with soil and tree insecticide injections with the goal to ultimately treat 100 percent of the hemlocks in the state park. According to an MDA spokesperson, they will concentrate on first treating the old growth area and entrance to the park and then treat the remaining hemlocks there. This program could take up to five years to complete. The injection suppression technique complements the biocontrol release of predator insects currently underway, which is showing great promise in Maryland, the spokesperson said.

“I am pleased to witness firsthand the steadfast efforts that Maryland is taking to stop the spread of the hemlock woolly adelgid and the damage it causes to our region’s important hemlock trees and associated ecosystems,” said MDA Deputy Secretary Setting. “Together with our state, federal, and academic partners, we are finding innovative ways to protect the environment for generations to come and to help keep Maryland smart, green and growing.”

“The virgin hemlocks of Swallow Falls State Park are a natural mecca for 250,000 visitors annually,” said DNR Secretary John Griffin. “We are committed to working in partnership with the MDA to protect this special place, as well as other important hemlock stands throughout Maryland’s public lands.”

“The Maryland Park Service has mobilized all 50 of its MCC members to support the week-long HWA suppression effort at Swallow Falls State Park,” said Maryland Park Service Superintendent Nita Settina. “MCC members will be literally walking in the footsteps of their predecessors, the Civilian Conservation Corps, which encamped at Swallow Falls State Park on May 14, 1934. Today, MCC members will be working to save the same trees that 77 years ago inspired a generation that restored Maryland’s natural resources and built many of its state parks.”

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