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Grant will help fight blight of hemlocks

Western North Carolina's ailing hemlock trees will get more help to return to long-term health, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced on Tuesday.

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will use $250,000 from the state's legal settlement with the Tennessee Valley Authority to continue supporting the Hemlock Restoration Initiative, which began last year. Over the next three years, the investment will support direct interventions on state and private lands, coordination of resources, and increasing volunteer efforts to save hemlock stands throughout the state.

Hemlocks across Western North Carolina are being decimated by the hemlock woolly adelgid, an insect that sucks the sap of young twigs, which leads to tree death. While thousands of trees have already died in the state, an integrated approach to pest management is showing positive results for the long-term survival of Eastern and Carolina hemlocks.

"We are committed to the fight to save North Carolina's hemlocks," Troxler said. "No one method of treatment is going to solve this problem, and the Hemlock Restoration Initiative brings together all the knowledge and support at our disposal. We've got to use existing approaches – and develop new tools – to give the hemlocks a fighting chance."

Recent efforts at combating the adelgid show promise for preserving existing stands and re-establishing hemlocks in areas where they have died. These include the introduction of predator insects that eat adelgids, the search for naturally resistant trees, and efforts to breed in resistance from similar tree species.

WNC Communities is the department's primary partner in the Hemlock Restoration Initiative. The Asheville-based nonprofit has experience in grants management, project development and using partnerships to achieve goals that benefit the region.

Linda Lamp, executive director of WNC Communities, said the organization expects to announce a competitive call for proposals for research awards by early summer.