[arctichomesteader]

http://rutlandherald.com/article/200...40/1003/NEWS02

Keep an eye out for this, anyone who spends time outside. This could become a major, major problem if they don't find a way to control it. I haven't seen any yet but I'll be keeping my eyes open...

Here's what they look like: Pest Alert - Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

[GraniteStater]

I have read stories about this issue before. The cold winters of northern New England have generally acted as a bulwark against the advancement of the hemlock bug.
The bigger problem I have noticed recently has been the invasives everywhere alongside highways and roadsides. They are out of control given the fact that precipitation has been so much above average over the past few years. Watch out for Japanese Knotweed. That is one of the worst invasives in the entire region.

[arctichomesteader]

Yeah those invasive plants are bad. But, it seems there's some locations those bug can survive in up here, and if we get a warm winter it will likely be bad. There's also something attacking black walnut trees out in the Western states, if that makes it here, it will be bad. The unintended consequences of all this global trade is the spread of pests. That's how our chestnuts, elms and in recent years also our butternuts have been decimated.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Yeah those invasive plants are bad. But, it seems there's some locations those bug can survive in up here, and if we get a warm winter it will likely be bad. There's also something attacking black walnut trees out in the Western states, if that makes it here, it will be bad. The unintended consequences of all this global trade is the spread of pests. That's how our chestnuts, elms and in recent years also our butternuts have been decimated.

I agree with all of those points.

[GraniteStater]

Zone creep is also causing the hemlock wooly adelgid to move a little further north with each passing year. This is just one more reason we should not hope for a warm winter. Time to start conserving, stocking up the wood, do extra insulating projects as well.

[looking4home]

I heard recently that meteorologists predict a warm winter. Didn't you have two cold winters in a row? Well, 07-08 got a lot of snow in late winter, if I remember.

[Idunn]

I'm afraid this infestation will prove more serious and intractable than you suspect. In the Rocky Mountain West vast tracts of forest are dead or dying from the Mountain Pine Beetle. There are also beetles specific to other species of tree, such as spruce, which have expanded far beyond norms. Such infestations run from Mexico into British Columbia, Canada, with that provence having thus far lost 33 million acres of forest to these beetles.

If these beetles are native to such forests, these unusual and widespread infestations are largely the result of global warming. Unfortunately, your experience in Vermont will probably mirror that already in progress in the West, accelerating as your environment warms.

Here are two resources which may prove of interest.

"Every large, mature lodgepole pine forest in Colorado and southern Wyoming will be dead within three to five years, killed in a mountain pine beetle infestation unprecedented in the state."
This article concerned with effects in Colorado and Wyoming:
Deaths of trees 'catastrophic' : Updates : The Rocky Mountain News

"Warming over this century is projected to be considerably greater than over the last century. The global average temperature since 1900 has risen by about 1.5ºF. By 2100, it is projected to rise another 2 to 11.5ºF."
This report, 'Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States,' should prove of more immediate interest to anyone in Vermont. It covers predicted impacts of climate change over the entire nation, and also specifically region by region. It presents a very sobering analysis of what one might expect. It is available as a free pdf download:
Download/Order the Report (http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts/download-the-report - broken link)

Having visited a good portion of the western US recently, I can report that no region is immune to these changes; there are large swaths of dead piñon trees in New Mexico, dead and dying lodgepole trees in Glacier National Park in Montana. High elevations seem to be most severely impacted. But also in latitude, as the Arctic and Alaska, although I have not been to Alaska recently, suffering a more rapid degree of change. In lower elevations one might expect signs to be more subtle, but increasingly obvious.

The west coast, in California, Oregon and Washington, appears to have thus far escaped much of the damage evident in the Rocky Mountains. But there are signs. The environment is much different, warmer and wetter. In talking with Park Rangers at Crater Lake National Park, in south central Oregon, they informed me their greatest concern at the moment their dying white fir trees, which live at the higher elevations of the Park. The predominant lodgepole within the lower reaches of this Park are still largely unaffected. At a first glance I would have presumed there little to no problem there, but in looking closer found this not to be the case. The difference relative, and only a matter of degree.

I should also note that while historical levels of CO2, dating back 10,000 years, stable at approximately 270ppm (parts per million), they are presently at 390ppm. If other greenhouse gases (GHG) such as nitrous oxide are included, the total today more like 420ppm. A general consensus among many scientists is this overall level should be no higher than 350ppm. With that probably too high, given the widespread and adverse changes already evident. Unfortunately we are presently at the upturn of an exponential graph which largely began with the advent of the industrial revolution in 1750, with that experienced henceforth in very rapid changes. If present trends continue total GHG could reach somewhere in the range of 700 to 1,000ppm by centuries end. That would be entirely catastrophic for our environment and all who depend upon it. The referenced report will indicate as much.

We are approaching some definitive tipping points within the next few years, by 2012, which will be a long time recovering from if passed.

[arctichomesteader]

The biggest problem as I see it is all the unrestricted trade bringing in things that destroy our environment. Any crates coming in should be fumigated or something to kill any pests in them (a side benefit would be raising the price of imports and helping domestic industry) and quarantined to be safe. Even if things warm up it wouldn't be such a big issue if we didn't have all these invasive species. Over in NY they also have the emerald ash borer which has wiped out ash trees all over and will inevitably be in VT soon. There's the asian longhorn beetle making its way around the country. And of course, the elms, chestnuts, and butternuts have mostly fallen to imported pests. Then we have those zebra mussels, and other invasive species here. This is all quite preventable.

[tkln]

The Asian Longhorn beetle is such a nightmare. The only way they can get rid of them is chopping down infested trees. The amount of trees we've lost here in NYC to them is horrible. The worst thing is there is no natural enemy for them here and they go after specific trees - maples being one of them. If they were to reach VT, the consequences would be devastating for the maple industry.

[arctichomesteader]

I think it's inevitable the asian longhorn beetle will reach VT. It will simply keep infesting trees until it hits the border and continues in...a disaster.