What's Wrong with Hemlocks?

The hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) protects its egg sacks with a white, wooly coating. These sacks are parked at the base of a tree's needles, and hatched adelgids feast on the sap running between the branches and the needles. With this nutrient flow disrupted, the needles die, eventually starving the tree.

Why are the hemlocks dying?

Eastern and Carolina hemlocks are dying because of an invasive hemlock-eating pest transplanted from Japan. The pest – Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) – kills hemlocks by sucking the nutrients from the tree, killing it in as little as 3-5 years.

What is killing the eastern hemlock?

Without successful intervention, the hemlock woolly adelgid is likely to kill most of the hemlock trees in the park. ... Originally discovered here in 2002, adelgid infestations have now spread throughout the park's hemlock forests. In many areas infested trees have now died.