State officials confirmed Tuesday night that emerald ash borer has infested some trees in the Town of Chester.
The invasive bug has been documented all around the outskirts of the Adirondack Park, but this is the first time the state Department of Environmental Conservation has confirmed an infestation within the park.
Emerald ash borers are metallic, green-winged beetles whose larvae feed on an inner layer of an ash tree. Once they’re grown, the adults exit the tree, leaving behind a D-shaped hole. Over time, the beetle’s lifecycle ends up killing the tree. They’re not great at flying, either, and typically get spread through people transporting wood shipping pallets or firewood.
The history books show the Dutch Elm disease quarantine was more successful than SLAM but I think that has more to the vector of disease - fungus versus insects. Dutch Elm disease did spread quicker during World War II when restrictions were lifted but it wasnt until the 1980s until it really got to devestating Upstate and further decades before got a serious hold in Ontario - really not until the beginning of the 21st century before Toronto lost its beautiful Elm lined streets.
The point is that humans might be an important vector but that doesn't mean that humans can necessarily break the chain. We are more helpless as a society to stop bad things from happening then the politicians want us to believe.
In the last few days, thousands of packages of seeds have been mailed nationwide, according to Midwest Center’s review of 50 states’ agricultural agencies’ statements and local news reports.
More than 800 packages have been sent to residents in Florida as of Wednesday, according to a local news channel WFLA.
Virginia Department of Agriculture had received over 900 emails and several hundred telephone calls from people as of Monday, according to The New York Times.
The Idaho Department of Agriculture said in a statement on Monday that it had received approximately 20 calls or emails from people who had reported receiving such seeds in the mail.
As the number of reports of receiving such packages continue to grow, several states had referred to the volumes of their received reports as “multiple,” “numerous,” “several,” and “many.”
In some states, people have reported receiving similar seeds from countries other than China. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig confirmed on Tuesday that the Iowans have received unsolicited seed shipments from China and other countries.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has identified some of the plant species in bags of unsolicited seeds arriving in mailboxes across the United States. Officials have warned the shipments of mystery seeds, which appear to have originated in China, could be invasive plant species.
So far, however, the species appear to be innocuous. At least 14 of the seed species had been identified as of July 29, according to Deputy Administrator Osama El-Lissy of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. They includes mustard, cabbage and morning glory as well as herbs like mint, sage, rosemary and lavender. He said hibiscus and roses were also found.
I often find myself listening to Coven’s antiwar anthem, One Tin Soldier that we featured in the Legend of Billy Jack. I really like the meaning of that song as it is so illustrative of the politics of hate practiced by both the left and the right of spectrum in America.
Pretending to be vitreous in treading on other people’s rights is a popular thing today. Too many people act like they are doing God’s work in politics, being the oppressor in their fight to raise up the oppressed even when they the oppressed have much more political power than they believe to have.
I think we should live and let live. Is it really necessary to look down at people who live differently than yourself? Now I get the different people can conflict and infringe on others rights but sometimes one needs to ignore the other in the common good.
As my flag says, “Don’t Tread on Me” and I won’t tread on you.
