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Hemlock Woolly Adelgid winter mortality is low this year due to the mild winter and populations in NH are rebounding. Now is a good time to take down your bird feeders to help slow the spread. Annual surveys are done each winter to track the spread throughout the state. Surveys for 2020 were done in 19 towns that border infested areas in NH. Towns surveyed included Dunbarton, Hooksett, Milton, Campton, Ashland, Claremont, Unity, Acworth, Lempster, Goshen, Newbury, Sutton, Wilmot, Andover, Franklin, Nelson, Stoddard, Marlow, and Pittsfield. Infestations were found in Dunbarton, Hooksett, Nelson, and Stoddard.
(Click on maps for higher resolution pdfs.)
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Elongate Hemlock Scale surveys for 2020 were done in conjunction with HWA surveys. Towns surveyed included Dunbarton, Hooksett, Milton, Campton, Ashland, Claremont, Unity, Acworth, Lempster, Goshen, Newbury, Sutton, Wilmot, Andover, Franklin, Nelson, Stoddard, Marlow, and Pittsfield. New infestations were detected in Dunbarton and Hooksett.
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Since the beginning of the year, emerald ash borer has been detected in nine new towns: Bradford, Dover, Langdon, Lee, Madbury, Merrimack, Middleton, Ossipee, and Plainfield. These detections bring the total number of infested towns in the state to 100. Infestations in the five southernmost counties (Rockingham, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Belknap, and Strafford) are now well established and widespread. Towns in the core of the infested area are starting to experience high ash mortality as symptoms of heavy emerald ash borer infestation are becoming widespread throughout the region. Although pockets of healthy ash trees can be found within these counties, landowners and forest managers in this area should move forward under the assumption that EAB is present. Even forests that are currently symptom-free will start experiencing dieback in the next year or two, followed shortly by heavy ash mortality. A full list of recommendations for anyone managing landscape and forested ash trees can be found at www.nhbugs.org. While EAB has been detected in Cheshire, Sullivan, Grafton, and Carroll counties, we are only seeing the early signs of infestation and no mortality has been observed at this time. The vast majority of these counties are still asymptomatic and could remain so for several years before EAB arrives, giving landowners more time to prepare by formulating a plan for the arrival of EAB.
(Click on map for higher resolution pdf.)
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Biological control remains the main tool for the long-term management of emerald ash borer throughout the state and the country. In New Hampshire, parasitic wasps have been released at over 30 sites since 2014. Previous evaluations have determined that the larval-parasitoid,Tetrastichus planipennisi, is establishing well throughout the state and efforts are now underway to determine the extent of the spread of these wasps throughout the environment.
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Tetrastichus planipennisi recovery. The parasitic wasps Tetrastichus planipennisi overwinters as larvae within ash trees. Trees from release sites are felled during the winter months, sectioned, and then stored in sealed barrels. Any overwintering wasps will emerge from the logs during the summer. The presence of wasps at least two years following the completion of releases at a given sites indicates successful establishment.
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Oobius agrili, an egg parasitoid released as part of the biological control release program, is more difficult to detect due to its minute size (<1mm) but efforts to evaluate its establishment have also been encouraging; O. agrili pupae have been recovered at several sites, though not as consistently as T. planipennisi.
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Oobius agrili recovery. A) O. agrili females lays their eggs inside of EAB eggs hidden within fissures on the bark of ash trees. The EAB eggs are removed from logs by shaving the outer bark with a drawknife. B) The shaved material is shaken to separate EAB eggs from the bark. All this material is then passed through a fine mesh sieve which separates the EAB eggs from the majority of the bark. C) The fine material that was able to pass through the sieve is combed through under a microscope to identify EAB eggs. D) EAB eggs are separated from the sifted material. E) EAB eggs that have been parasitized by Oobius agrili are a dark black / brown color in comparison to healthy eggs which are a golden / tan color.
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You can now view forest health maps and other online applications in an ArcGIS web experience which essentially functions like a webpage. Also new in this experience are story maps adapted from recent publications. The story maps allow you to easily access research data that has been previously published without the need for publication subscriptions. Currently you can view publications on White Pine Blister Rust, White Pine Decline, Caliciopsis Extent and Severity and Economic Implications of Caliciopsis on the Lumber Industry. Bookmap this new page for easy access or find it on our website.
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Covid-19 Update: We are still actively working to protect NH's forests. Some of our work is being done remotely and it may be easiest to reach us via email or cell phone. You can also continue to email us pest photos or upload them at nhbugs.org.
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Forest Health Contacts
Kyle Lombard
Program Coordinator
Kyle.Lombard@dncr.nh.gov
603-464-3016 x101
603-419-0075 cell
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Jen Weimer
Forest Health Specialist
Jennifer.Weimer@dncr.nh.gov
603-464-3016 x102
603-419-0079 cell
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Bill Davidson
Forest Health Specialist-EAB
William.Davidson@dncr.nh.gov
603-464-3016 x103
603-892-5156 cell
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