The endless fight against invasive species continued apace in 2021.
Some new invasive species inched into the Adirondack Park, while some continued to unsuccessfully seek a foothold – like hydrilla, which was intercepted by Adirondack Watershed Institute boat stewards during the summer.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation making permanent rules against transporting aquatic invasive species and authorizing DEC to establish more boat inspection and decontamination stops in the Adirondacks. After another year of boat inspections across the park, boats were buoyed by increasing compliance among the public and decreasing rates of identifying invasive species.
The state also ramped up its fight against the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive bug that has established itself around Lake George and threatens the region’s iconic hemlock trees. Scientists with the New York State Hemlock Initiative at Cornell University helped kickstart an offensive attack on the invasive bugs: release the biocontrols. They are letting predator bugs to fight the invasive bugs. Those battles will continue for at least five years.
There have been recent reports about wooly adelgid on Maine beaches staining people’s feet. This past week a brown scum appeared on a near by pond used as a swimming hole. The scum left a brown stain on swimmers. Is this time of year for the life cycle of the wooly adelgid to get blown out of the Hemlocks into the water?