Specialists from the Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC) and Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) will provide an overview of native and invasive species that are attacking the Catskill forest in a free program to be held Thursday, March 17 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Okun Theater, Farrell Student and Community Center, SUNY Delhi. “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 casts a spotlight on issues facing the region today that will impact Catskill people, waters and lands in 2020.
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. 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 (EAB), which has the potential to decimate the ash tree population in the Catskills.
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, visit www.catskillinstitute.org, or call 607-746-4483.
http://www.nycwatershed.org/pdfs/2011ForestDefoliators20110317.pdf
