The parasitic wooly adelgid. Photo by E.P. Mallory via Flickr under a Creative Commons license

The Maryland Conservation Corps was featured along with several other partners in a recent Baltimore Sunarticle for their work to combat wooly adelgid insects that are decimating hemlock tree populations in Maryland forests in places such as Swallow Falls State Park.

Tina Stevens, a Park Service Associate with the Corps, said that “Last week 50 corps members treated 2000 old growth hemlock trees to prevent the HWA from spreading and devastating the 478 acre park.”

Aside from those impressive numbers, according to The Sun, “Besides their ecological role, the stately hemlocks at Swallow Falls also draw 250,000 visitors a year” making this task even more important.

You can read the full story about how the Maryland Conservation Corps and other state agencies and partners are combatting the insects at The Baltimore Sun (link).