A parasitic bug -- the hemlock woolly adelgid -- that kills hemlock trees has marched its way to the eastern edge of the Cohutta Wilderness Area in Murray County, Ga., and forestry experts want to help homeowners save their trees.
"The adelgid is just now coming into Murray County," said Scott Griffin, forest health specialist with the Georgia Forestry Commission.
The tiny Asian insect has no natural predators here. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville and four other southeastern colleges have begun growing a predator beetle, but they can't keep up with the adelgid's march across the country.
PDF: Adelgid paper USDA
The Georgia Forestry Commission and the University of Georgia Extension Service are sponsoring an anti-adelgid meeting tonightat 7 p.m. in Chatsworth.
Mr. Griffin said he will offer options to save trees from the bug, which sucks the life from hemlocks. One method is to inject a systemic insecticide around the base of an infected tree, according to experts.
"I'll bring a lot of the (pesticide) products that are available and demonstrate how to mix them," Mr. Griffin said. "I am delivering an injector (pesticide applicator) to our Murray office tomorrow."
Experts say losing hemlocks would lessen foliage cover that keeps streams cool enough for trout and other species.
Georgia is using about $70,000 of the Chattahoochee National Forest's $3.3 million in stimulus money to battle the tiny bug on public land, but there isn't enough money or manpower to save trees on private property.
That's why foresters have organized the information sessions and established a stable of pesticide injectors to loan to homeowners.
Donna Shearer, chairman of Save Georgia's Hemlocks, applauds the state effort.
"It's a beginning step in making people aware," she said. "Our angle is a little bit more of where the rubber meets the road. We help people know how and where to borrow the injectors, and what to do with them."
If you go
What: Saving hemlocks
Where: Murray County Ag Center, Chatsworth
When: 7 p.m. today
Information: Georgia Forestry Commission, 770-530-3929, or Murray County Extension, 706-695-3031.