Advocates of Signal Mountain’s hemlock trees are preparing to rally the troops against the wooly adelgid infestation.
The initiator of the effort, Barbara Womack, received her training from the Save Georgia’s Hemlocks program last spring, and since then she has held multiple informational meetings and demonstrations to educate the community on how to treat its hemlock trees. The meetings were held in neighborhoods and in the Bachman Community Center, she said.
“I would think hundreds of trees since we started [giving the demonstrations] have been protected,” said Womack. “People have finally been becoming aware – it has been so hard to wake people up to this.”
The process, however, is only beginning.
The next step, Womack said, is to get approval from the Signal Mountain Town Council to form a committee under the direction of the Tree Board. Its function would be to head up surveying, fundraising and treatment efforts to save hemlocks on public lands.
More than $1,000 in donations have already been made to the town to help buy the chemical used to treat the trees, called Imidacloprid, said town of Signal Mountain Vice Mayor Susan Robertson.
Womack said there are also needs for volunteers to do the work, become a part of that committee if approved by the Council, as well as to fill in the ranks of the Tree Board, which currently has two open positions, according to Robertson.
“It’s going to be a long-term process,” Womack said. “You can treat [the trees] any time of year, but the optimum time is spring and fall.”
Her hope is to begin survey work on public green spaces like Rainbow Lake and Green Gorge this fall.
To get involved in the effort, email Womack at bgwomack@epbfi.com.