Threats to Our Forest: Free Seminar 3/17/11

Specialists from the Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC) and Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) will talk about the native and invasive species that are attacking the Catskill forest. The program, “Threats to Our Forest: Defoliators and Worse,” will held Thursday, March 17 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Okun Theater, Farrell Student and Community Center, SUNY Delhi. The seminar is free and open to the public.

Speakers at the March 17 program will be Joshua VanBrakle, Wood Products Specialist at WAC, and J. Rebecca Hargrave, Natural Resources Educator with CCE Chenango County. Moderating the discussion will be Jack Tessier, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, SUNY Delhi. Together, they will discuss life cycles, detection and means of combating defoliators such as gypsy moth and forest tent caterpillars, as well as destructive pests like the Emerald Ash Borer (also known as EAB, pictured above), which has the potential to decimate the ash tree population in the Catskills.

VanBrakle oversees WAC’s Catskill WoodNet initiative, supports woody biomass research and projects in the region, reviews forest management plans and develops initiatives to support the economic viability of forestry in the NYC Watershed region. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Economics and Policy from Lebanon Valley College, and an M.S. in Forest Resource Management from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Hargrave provides technical assistance on horticulture, agroforestry and invasive species management to youth and adult audiences. She earned BS and MS degrees in Forest Science from Penn State and the University of Minnesota. She is currently working on the Emerald Ash Borer Early Detection and Rapid Response Program in conjunction with Mark Whitmore, Forest Entomologist at Cornell University

“Threats to Our Forest: Defoliators and Worse,” is sponsored by the Catskill Institute for the Environment with support from the NYC Department of Environmental Protection. It is part of an ongoing series of lectures and panel discussions titled “20/20 Vision for the Catskills.” The series is intended to cast a spotlight on issues facing the region today that will impact Catskill people, waters and lands in 2020. The CIE, established in 1998, is a consortium of representatives of colleges, institutions and individuals that coordinates symposia and special programming to promote environmental awareness, education and scientific cooperation in the Catskill region. Upcoming 20/20 Vision programs will focus on aquatic invasives threatening our waterways, bioaccumulation of mercury in flora and fauna, and trends in wildlife populations, including comebacks of some previously threatened species.

For more information, contact Dr. Morton (Sam) Adams, chairman,(607) 746-4483.

Photo: New York State Invasive Species