Possible Salvation for Hemlocks

— John Sollows

On Tuesday, April 10. Ron Neville of Canada Food Inspection Agency gave us a very enlightening talk of the threat to hemlocks posed by the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid.

In a nutshell, our hemlocks are in serious trouble.

In the U.S., introductions of predators, use of insecticides, thinning, and cuts of affected trees have been tried with varying effect. Regulations prevent some of those approaches in Canada. The threats posed by introduced species of any sort are unpredictable. Pesticides carry their own risk and would require very careful application, in any case. And these little bugs are easily transportable.

I want to raise the idea of collecting hemlock seeds. When I raised the idea with Ron, he seemed positive to the idea, and has shared some information as to how to proceed:

“It is at the Canadian Forest Service Atlantic office in Fredericton and there are some plans in the works to enhance the locations of where seed has been collected. If your group is interested in getting involved, perhaps you could contact them?

“The contact there is Donnie McPhee

Natural Resources Canada
National Tree Seed Centre
1350 Regent Street
Fredericton, NB E3C 2G6

Donnie McPhee
National Tree Seed Centre
506.452.3289
Email: donnie.mcphee@canada.ca

http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/research-centres/afc/13449”

So, anyone interested in saving hemlock seeds is advised to contact Donnie McPhee, as detailed above.

This entry was posted in General Information. Bookmark the permalink.