Saving Hemlock Trees at Ragged Mountain

GCC Chair, Peter Cody, LCO Ragged Mountain Foundation President Matt Conroy, and Derin Tanyol took part last summer in a beetle release at Connecticut’s Ragged Mountain, home to spectacular single-pitch climbs established by the likes of Fritz Wiessner!

Pete Cody, Derin Tanyol and Mat Conroy at Ragged Mountain

This species of Japanese lady beetle, Sasajiscymnus tsugae, is a natural predator of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), the invasive pest responsible for the decimation of hemlocks throughout the eastern United States. Dr. Carole Cheah, a research entomologist at the State of Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, has been managing a super-successful HWA remediation effort throughout Connecticut since the 1990s. Her expertise and generosity with her time, and the Ragged Mountain Foundation’s foresight in caring for these endangered trees, made the first step to save the hemlocks at this climbing destination possible!

Dr. Carole Cheah, research entomologist.

To learn more about the collaboration to help save the hemlock trees at Ragged Mountain, read An Unexpected Solution on the Ragged Mountain Foundation blog. Here are some more photos from the project:

Matt Conroy inspecting hemlock trees for HWA, which you can see as white fuzz between the needles.

Matt releasing beetles on a hemlock tree infested with HWA.

Matt and Derin releasing beetles on a hemlock tree infested with HWA.