1 00:00:06,390 --> 00:00:09,570 Welcome to the 2023 Annual Conference 2 00:00:09,570 --> 00:00:12,303 of the Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative. 3 00:00:13,530 --> 00:00:14,640 I'm Justin Perry. 4 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:15,840 I'm the Chief of the Bureau 5 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,840 of Invasive Species in Ecosystem Health 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,840 within the Department of Environmental Conservation 7 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:23,670 in New York State 8 00:00:23,670 --> 00:00:27,843 and I'm the current chair of the FEMC Steering Committee. 9 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:31,830 It's my pleasure to be kicking off our conference 10 00:00:31,830 --> 00:00:34,380 with the theme of forest as solutions 11 00:00:34,380 --> 00:00:37,200 to a wide range of issues, 12 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,960 thinking especially about the role forests can play 13 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:41,610 in improving wellbeing 14 00:00:41,610 --> 00:00:45,810 and address both climate change and our biodiversity crisis. 15 00:00:45,810 --> 00:00:48,450 The work all of us has the potential 16 00:00:48,450 --> 00:00:51,180 to positively impact each of these things 17 00:00:51,180 --> 00:00:53,790 and I'm excited to hear from our plenary speakers 18 00:00:53,790 --> 00:00:56,820 who will be digging into some of the specifics 19 00:00:56,820 --> 00:00:57,813 of that with us. 20 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,460 This past year at the FEMC has been a year 21 00:01:02,460 --> 00:01:06,743 of reorganization, taking stock, reorientation, 22 00:01:07,620 --> 00:01:10,020 reorientating the many ways 23 00:01:10,020 --> 00:01:12,840 FEMC works with its partners, collaborators 24 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,633 in tackling pressing forest health concerns. 25 00:01:16,620 --> 00:01:19,440 After a period of transition in 2022, 26 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,520 FEMC was able to complete several ongoing projects, 27 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,010 apply for funding for new and exciting work, 28 00:01:26,010 --> 00:01:28,623 and continue to build its collaborative network. 29 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:30,600 In the past year, 30 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,840 each state held a state partnership committee meeting 31 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:37,440 where they helped identify the priorities for the region. 32 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,960 And yesterday, the FEMC Joint Committee 33 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:43,980 met to discuss potential projects for next year. 34 00:01:43,980 --> 00:01:47,220 These projects will include two state-focused projects, 35 00:01:47,220 --> 00:01:48,780 beginning a five-year project 36 00:01:48,780 --> 00:01:52,170 to develop a region-wide, region-wise tool 37 00:01:52,170 --> 00:01:54,690 for invasive species early detection 38 00:01:54,690 --> 00:01:59,670 based on cutting-edge DNA metabarcoding technology, 39 00:01:59,670 --> 00:02:03,210 continuing FEMC's annual regional forest health monitoring, 40 00:02:03,210 --> 00:02:04,143 and much more. 41 00:02:05,670 --> 00:02:08,130 Following the long-term FEMC champion 42 00:02:08,130 --> 00:02:10,560 Senator Leahy's retirement last year, 43 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:11,910 we have continued to develop 44 00:02:11,910 --> 00:02:13,530 and strengthen our relationships 45 00:02:13,530 --> 00:02:15,870 with the congressional delegation 46 00:02:15,870 --> 00:02:19,650 for all of our partner states to ensure long-term support 47 00:02:19,650 --> 00:02:21,573 of FEMC and its mission. 48 00:02:22,980 --> 00:02:24,690 I'd like to thank all of the experts 49 00:02:24,690 --> 00:02:26,070 and leaders in the region 50 00:02:26,070 --> 00:02:28,830 who help to build up and sustain the cooperative, 51 00:02:28,830 --> 00:02:30,030 and to the Forest Service 52 00:02:30,030 --> 00:02:32,253 for its continued support of the program. 53 00:02:33,450 --> 00:02:34,560 I would also like to thank 54 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:36,260 our conference planning committee, 55 00:02:37,290 --> 00:02:42,270 Eli Ward, Alana Russell, Julianna White, Meg Ferguson, 56 00:02:42,270 --> 00:02:46,560 Jess Cancelliere, Logan Johnson, and Alison Adams. 57 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:48,870 Thank you all for your excellent work 58 00:02:48,870 --> 00:02:51,510 in developing the theme and plenary presenters 59 00:02:51,510 --> 00:02:53,103 for this year's conference. 60 00:02:54,090 --> 00:02:56,190 This has been a great year for FEMC 61 00:02:56,190 --> 00:02:58,890 and we have an even more exciting year ahead. 62 00:02:58,890 --> 00:03:01,050 So, take advantage of the sessions today 63 00:03:01,050 --> 00:03:03,090 to get inspired and get connected. 64 00:03:03,090 --> 00:03:05,070 And thank you for being here. 65 00:03:05,070 --> 00:03:06,586 Don't look outside. 66 00:03:06,586 --> 00:03:07,620 (audience laughing) 67 00:03:07,620 --> 00:03:09,870 And with that, I'd like to welcome to the stage 68 00:03:09,870 --> 00:03:12,988 Alison Adams, director of the FEMC. 69 00:03:12,988 --> 00:03:15,988 (audience clapping) 70 00:03:19,740 --> 00:03:21,960 All right, thank you so much, Justin. 71 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,270 It's really great to be here with all of you. 72 00:03:24,270 --> 00:03:26,340 We have more than 200 people here today, 73 00:03:26,340 --> 00:03:27,330 which is really exciting. 74 00:03:27,330 --> 00:03:31,830 We have another 30 people or so joining us online, 75 00:03:31,830 --> 00:03:34,860 so I'm really excited today to get to hear from 76 00:03:34,860 --> 00:03:36,573 and speak with a lot of you. 77 00:03:38,070 --> 00:03:39,750 I wanna start this morning by acknowledging 78 00:03:39,750 --> 00:03:41,550 that the campus of the University of Vermont 79 00:03:41,550 --> 00:03:42,383 sits within a place 80 00:03:42,383 --> 00:03:44,940 of gathering and exchange shaped by water 81 00:03:44,940 --> 00:03:48,300 and stewarded by ongoing generations of indigenous peoples, 82 00:03:48,300 --> 00:03:50,880 in particular, the Western Abenaki. 83 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,490 Acknowledging the relations between water, land, and people 84 00:03:53,490 --> 00:03:54,780 is in harmony with the mission 85 00:03:54,780 --> 00:03:56,670 of the University of Vermont. 86 00:03:56,670 --> 00:03:59,220 Acknowledging the serious and significant impacts 87 00:03:59,220 --> 00:04:02,310 of our histories on indigenous peoples and their homelands 88 00:04:02,310 --> 00:04:04,530 is a part of the university's ongoing work 89 00:04:04,530 --> 00:04:07,140 of teaching, research, and engagement, 90 00:04:07,140 --> 00:04:09,420 and is an essential reminder of our past 91 00:04:09,420 --> 00:04:10,830 and our interconnected futures 92 00:04:10,830 --> 00:04:12,880 for the many of us gathered on this land. 93 00:04:13,830 --> 00:04:15,420 UVM respects the indigenous knowledge 94 00:04:15,420 --> 00:04:16,620 interwoven in this place 95 00:04:16,620 --> 00:04:19,470 and commits to uplifting the indigenous peoples and cultures 96 00:04:19,470 --> 00:04:21,813 present on this land and within our community. 97 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:25,613 Last year at the conference, for those of you who are here, 98 00:04:25,613 --> 00:04:27,900 you might remember FEMC began an effort 99 00:04:27,900 --> 00:04:31,200 to understand where all of our partnering organizations work 100 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:33,810 and how that intersects with indigenous land. 101 00:04:33,810 --> 00:04:35,610 Those of you who were here then may remember 102 00:04:35,610 --> 00:04:38,100 looking at a map of indigenous territories in the northeast 103 00:04:38,100 --> 00:04:41,220 and adding your organization to a list 104 00:04:41,220 --> 00:04:45,993 showing where you work and whose land that traditionally is. 105 00:04:46,980 --> 00:04:49,290 We had 10 organizations from across the region 106 00:04:49,290 --> 00:04:51,360 representing four different indigenous territories 107 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,310 add their names to our list last year, 108 00:04:53,310 --> 00:04:55,800 which is an okay start, but I know there are a lot more 109 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,340 than 10 organizations and agencies represented here. 110 00:04:59,340 --> 00:05:01,530 So, we're gonna continue that work today 111 00:05:01,530 --> 00:05:04,020 and you should look for, 112 00:05:04,020 --> 00:05:06,240 there'll be a computer set up near the registration table 113 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:07,500 where you can explore a map 114 00:05:07,500 --> 00:05:09,630 and write the name of your organization, 115 00:05:09,630 --> 00:05:11,880 as well as the territory that's on, 116 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:13,983 so please do stop by there today. 117 00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:17,640 All right, before I get into some updates 118 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:18,810 on regional forest health, 119 00:05:18,810 --> 00:05:20,250 as well as FEMC's projects 120 00:05:20,250 --> 00:05:23,880 and accomplishments this past year, 121 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:25,800 I want to acknowledge and thank 122 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:27,300 the amazing group of staff 123 00:05:27,300 --> 00:05:30,300 that have made all of those accomplishments a reality. 124 00:05:30,300 --> 00:05:31,860 Over the course of this past year, 125 00:05:31,860 --> 00:05:33,960 FEMC staff have shown me again and again 126 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:35,760 how lucky I am to get to work 127 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:37,590 with such a bright, talented, creative, 128 00:05:37,590 --> 00:05:39,150 and thoughtful group of people. 129 00:05:39,150 --> 00:05:41,880 I really can't say enough how grateful I am 130 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:44,370 for everything that they do to make FEMC what it is 131 00:05:44,370 --> 00:05:46,260 and get all of the massive amount of work 132 00:05:46,260 --> 00:05:49,163 that we somehow accomplish over the course of the year done. 133 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,060 Oh, went too fast. 134 00:05:54,060 --> 00:05:55,160 These are all of them. 135 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:00,030 I especially want to highlight a few new folks 136 00:06:00,030 --> 00:06:02,550 who joined us since last December. 137 00:06:02,550 --> 00:06:04,950 In January, we welcomed Soren Donisvitch 138 00:06:04,950 --> 00:06:06,810 to our team as a data analyst, 139 00:06:06,810 --> 00:06:09,030 and in just a year, he's had a huge impact 140 00:06:09,030 --> 00:06:12,090 on what we're able to do as an organization. 141 00:06:12,090 --> 00:06:14,850 We also have a new Eco AmeriCorps member, Jerome Lee, 142 00:06:14,850 --> 00:06:17,340 who will be focusing a lot of his time 143 00:06:17,340 --> 00:06:19,530 on helping with our forest health monitoring work 144 00:06:19,530 --> 00:06:21,810 and has helped a lot with the conference today as well. 145 00:06:21,810 --> 00:06:22,920 And Jake Vitale, 146 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,040 who was a great member of our field crew this past summer 147 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,280 and is also helping with our forest monitoring efforts 148 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:30,753 while Ben is on leave. 149 00:06:33,870 --> 00:06:36,030 We also couldn't do any of this without our partners, 150 00:06:36,030 --> 00:06:37,500 and especially our state coordinators 151 00:06:37,500 --> 00:06:38,490 who keep us up to date 152 00:06:38,490 --> 00:06:41,130 on state and regional forest health issues, 153 00:06:41,130 --> 00:06:43,470 help us identify priority topics to work on, 154 00:06:43,470 --> 00:06:45,570 and collaborate with us on projects. 155 00:06:45,570 --> 00:06:46,500 We were lucky to welcome 156 00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:48,990 several new state coordinators this year, 157 00:06:48,990 --> 00:06:50,640 include these three, 158 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,130 Jess Cancelliere in New York, 159 00:06:53,130 --> 00:06:54,417 Eli Ward in Connecticut, 160 00:06:54,417 --> 00:06:58,590 and Larissa Robinov in New Hampshire. 161 00:06:58,590 --> 00:07:00,300 All three of them have brought a lot of energy 162 00:07:00,300 --> 00:07:03,090 and enthusiasm to our group of state coordinators, 163 00:07:03,090 --> 00:07:04,260 and it's really exciting to have 164 00:07:04,260 --> 00:07:07,683 a full roster of coordinators again this year. 165 00:07:08,550 --> 00:07:09,900 And then, of course, behind all of this, 166 00:07:09,900 --> 00:07:11,790 our funders continue to provide 167 00:07:11,790 --> 00:07:13,290 an impressive commitment to the effort, 168 00:07:13,290 --> 00:07:15,210 which in turn allows us to leverage funding 169 00:07:15,210 --> 00:07:18,000 from more sources for additional projects, 170 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:20,600 and I sincerely thank all of them for their support. 171 00:07:22,380 --> 00:07:24,090 Okay, I wanna start this morning 172 00:07:24,090 --> 00:07:26,430 by sharing some overarching themes in forest health 173 00:07:26,430 --> 00:07:28,080 that we've been hearing from our state coordinators 174 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:29,790 across the region this past year, 175 00:07:29,790 --> 00:07:32,550 and set the stage for the conference that way. 176 00:07:32,550 --> 00:07:35,220 One of the important roles that FEMC plays 177 00:07:35,220 --> 00:07:38,880 is as a coordinator of folks 178 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,160 who are working in forests across the region, 179 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,280 facilitating the transfer and synthesis of information 180 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:46,650 from and between each of our partner states. 181 00:07:46,650 --> 00:07:49,260 So, I'm happy to be able to share that kind of synthesis 182 00:07:49,260 --> 00:07:50,670 with you this morning. 183 00:07:50,670 --> 00:07:52,620 I am gonna say that this does start out a little dark, 184 00:07:52,620 --> 00:07:54,420 'cause I start with pests, 185 00:07:54,420 --> 00:07:56,550 so I'm sorry about that hanging there. 186 00:07:56,550 --> 00:07:58,560 I did make them all send me good news, too, 187 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:00,480 so we'll have some of that. 188 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:01,503 Just stick with me. 189 00:08:04,410 --> 00:08:06,360 Okay, so first of all, I wanna describe, 190 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:08,670 I did this little map key up in the corner. 191 00:08:08,670 --> 00:08:11,160 It's not a scientific accounting of what's going on, 192 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:13,380 but just based on what state coordinators told me, 193 00:08:13,380 --> 00:08:14,310 I got a sense of, 194 00:08:14,310 --> 00:08:17,970 I tried to get a sense of how much of a concern 195 00:08:17,970 --> 00:08:20,790 each pest was in that particular state. 196 00:08:20,790 --> 00:08:23,940 Dark orange means it's the most concern or most prevalent, 197 00:08:23,940 --> 00:08:27,240 lighter orange means that that pest or pathogen 198 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,803 is found in most or all towns or counties, 199 00:08:32,850 --> 00:08:35,010 but is a somewhat less intense invasion. 200 00:08:35,010 --> 00:08:38,520 This is where I was trying to to figure it out a little. 201 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:40,110 Yellow means that it's in some, 202 00:08:40,110 --> 00:08:41,550 but not all places in the state, 203 00:08:41,550 --> 00:08:44,970 at least as far as I could tell from what I gathered. 204 00:08:44,970 --> 00:08:48,450 And then, green means not found. 205 00:08:48,450 --> 00:08:50,340 Gray means that I just didn't get the information 206 00:08:50,340 --> 00:08:51,173 for that state. 207 00:08:53,790 --> 00:08:56,490 Oh, we were still starting here, okay. 208 00:08:56,490 --> 00:08:57,720 Starting with beech leaf disease, 209 00:08:57,720 --> 00:08:58,740 this year, beech leaf disease 210 00:08:58,740 --> 00:09:00,930 was a leading forest health concern in Connecticut, 211 00:09:00,930 --> 00:09:03,510 where not a single asymptomatic tree was found 212 00:09:03,510 --> 00:09:06,180 in any of their forest health monitoring plots, 213 00:09:06,180 --> 00:09:09,270 though a few were found outside of plots. 214 00:09:09,270 --> 00:09:11,820 Foresters there are uncertain about how to manage forests 215 00:09:11,820 --> 00:09:13,290 with high beech basal area, 216 00:09:13,290 --> 00:09:15,570 given the likelihood for roots sprouting 217 00:09:15,570 --> 00:09:19,260 that could suppress regeneration of other tree species. 218 00:09:19,260 --> 00:09:21,720 Beech leaf disease is now in all counties in Rhode Island 219 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:24,330 and expanding rapidly in Massachusetts and New York, 220 00:09:24,330 --> 00:09:26,610 where there's a lot of concern about impacts on Long Island 221 00:09:26,610 --> 00:09:28,530 due to the presence of some rare community types, 222 00:09:28,530 --> 00:09:30,660 like the maritime beech forest. 223 00:09:30,660 --> 00:09:33,030 There were detections in 14 new towns in New Hampshire, 224 00:09:33,030 --> 00:09:35,250 bringing the total to 20 towns there, 225 00:09:35,250 --> 00:09:37,080 and it was just detected this year in Vermont 226 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,720 in two towns and one county total. 227 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:41,520 In Maine, four new detections this year 228 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,880 have brought the total up to 11 out of 16 Maine counties 229 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:46,430 affected by beech leaf disease. 230 00:09:48,900 --> 00:09:50,430 Emerald ash borer has also continued 231 00:09:50,430 --> 00:09:51,390 to spread across the region, 232 00:09:51,390 --> 00:09:53,370 as everybody here knows. 233 00:09:53,370 --> 00:09:55,860 EAB was detected in all towns in Connecticut. 234 00:09:55,860 --> 00:09:57,270 It's widespread in New York. 235 00:09:57,270 --> 00:10:00,690 It's in every county in almost every town in Rhode Island. 236 00:10:00,690 --> 00:10:02,760 It was found in 15 new towns in Vermont 237 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:04,290 for a total of 57 towns. 238 00:10:04,290 --> 00:10:06,183 That's 13 out of 14 counties. 239 00:10:07,260 --> 00:10:10,020 12 new towns, including one new county in New Hampshire, 240 00:10:10,020 --> 00:10:11,760 meaning that it's now present in every county 241 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:12,690 in New Hampshire, 242 00:10:12,690 --> 00:10:14,910 and one new county in Maine. 243 00:10:14,910 --> 00:10:16,980 This figure up here shows in Connecticut 244 00:10:16,980 --> 00:10:19,050 where they're about nine years 245 00:10:19,050 --> 00:10:20,790 following the initial detection. 246 00:10:20,790 --> 00:10:23,130 EAB populations in the areas 247 00:10:23,130 --> 00:10:24,930 that were hit earliest have crashed. 248 00:10:25,950 --> 00:10:27,810 I'll talk a little bit more, 249 00:10:27,810 --> 00:10:29,550 actually, don't know if I do talk about that more later. 250 00:10:29,550 --> 00:10:31,380 But that's interesting 251 00:10:31,380 --> 00:10:32,940 'cause that's one of the earliest places 252 00:10:32,940 --> 00:10:34,920 that was invaded in our region, 253 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,470 so seeing what's going on there, I think, 254 00:10:37,470 --> 00:10:39,903 can be helpful for other states further north. 255 00:10:43,620 --> 00:10:47,550 Okay, elm zigzag sawfly hasn't been detected yet 256 00:10:47,550 --> 00:10:48,780 in Connecticut or Rhode Island, 257 00:10:48,780 --> 00:10:50,550 but it has been confirmed in a few parts 258 00:10:50,550 --> 00:10:53,580 of Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont. 259 00:10:53,580 --> 00:10:56,070 The Vermont Forest Health team notes that Siberian elm 260 00:10:56,070 --> 00:10:58,710 appears to be preferred over American elm, 261 00:10:58,710 --> 00:11:00,900 but both experience defoliation. 262 00:11:00,900 --> 00:11:03,330 And in New York, the state is funding an entomologist 263 00:11:03,330 --> 00:11:06,540 at SUNY ESF doing phenological research on zigzag sawfly 264 00:11:06,540 --> 00:11:07,893 to inform management. 265 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:15,150 All right, hemlock woolly adelgid impacts 266 00:11:15,150 --> 00:11:16,800 were mixed over the region this past year. 267 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:19,200 It was found in one new town in Vermont this year, 268 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:20,790 and hemlock mortality was reported 269 00:11:20,790 --> 00:11:22,980 in locations where the insect exists. 270 00:11:22,980 --> 00:11:25,290 But in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, 271 00:11:25,290 --> 00:11:27,150 there was substantial mortality 272 00:11:27,150 --> 00:11:30,540 of some recent HWA generations. 273 00:11:30,540 --> 00:11:31,373 Though in Rhode Island, 274 00:11:31,373 --> 00:11:33,240 the subsequent generation seems to have been doing 275 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:34,413 a little bit better. 276 00:11:35,790 --> 00:11:38,225 Our Rhode Island state coordinator noted 277 00:11:38,225 --> 00:11:40,590 that it seems that hemlock woolly adelgid 278 00:11:40,590 --> 00:11:43,050 seems to be causing a prolonged decline in Rhode Island 279 00:11:43,050 --> 00:11:45,150 rather than a quick die-off. 280 00:11:45,150 --> 00:11:47,010 And in New York, there are still many 281 00:11:47,010 --> 00:11:48,540 presumed uninfested areas 282 00:11:48,540 --> 00:11:49,800 throughout the Southern Adirondacks, 283 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:51,540 where the state's highest distribution 284 00:11:51,540 --> 00:11:53,430 of hemlock is located. 285 00:11:53,430 --> 00:11:55,560 Also, hemlock woolly adelgid biocontrol agents 286 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:56,790 have been released across the region, 287 00:11:56,790 --> 00:11:57,990 and many of the state coordinators 288 00:11:57,990 --> 00:11:59,890 mentioned that in their updates to me. 289 00:12:03,390 --> 00:12:04,800 The southern portion of the region, 290 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:06,480 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, 291 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,130 reported increases in the number 292 00:12:08,130 --> 00:12:10,530 of southern pine beetles in traps this year. 293 00:12:10,530 --> 00:12:12,210 For example, in Rhode Island, 294 00:12:12,210 --> 00:12:14,490 there was just one beetle trapped in 2019 295 00:12:14,490 --> 00:12:18,660 compared to more than 1000 beetles trapped in 2023. 296 00:12:18,660 --> 00:12:19,500 However, to this point, 297 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:21,720 only Massachusetts has reported southern pine beetle 298 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:23,160 attacking and killing trees. 299 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:25,020 This was especially an issue in Nantucket 300 00:12:25,020 --> 00:12:25,920 and Martha's Vineyard, 301 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,020 and our Massachusetts state coordinator 302 00:12:28,020 --> 00:12:29,280 noted that most of their summer 303 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,080 was spent dealing with this problem. 304 00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:33,780 There was also a significant 305 00:12:33,780 --> 00:12:35,520 three-year outbreak on Long Island 306 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:36,630 that caused significant damage 307 00:12:36,630 --> 00:12:38,880 to about 5,000 acres of pitch pine 308 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,490 with severe mortality in some areas. 309 00:12:41,490 --> 00:12:43,710 And in New York, the focus is on managing 310 00:12:43,710 --> 00:12:46,160 southern pine beetle using preventative thinning. 311 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,120 Okay, last one that I'm gonna talk about, spongy moth. 312 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,550 We saw an overall population decline in spongy moth 313 00:12:53,550 --> 00:12:55,020 across the region this year, 314 00:12:55,020 --> 00:12:56,910 largely due to wet conditions resulting 315 00:12:56,910 --> 00:13:00,150 in enough of the fungus that controls spongy moth outbreaks. 316 00:13:00,150 --> 00:13:02,310 One notable exception was in the Hudson Valley, 317 00:13:02,310 --> 00:13:04,770 where there was a substantial outbreak this year. 318 00:13:04,770 --> 00:13:07,470 Also, several states reported widespread oak mortality 319 00:13:07,470 --> 00:13:09,240 from previous outbreaks. 320 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:10,560 For example, New Hampshire has lost 321 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:12,870 tens of thousands of oaks in the northern part of the state 322 00:13:12,870 --> 00:13:14,910 and is expecting to see widespread oak mortality 323 00:13:14,910 --> 00:13:17,250 in the conquered region in 2024. 324 00:13:17,250 --> 00:13:20,130 And these are images from New Hampshire, 325 00:13:20,130 --> 00:13:22,833 where they're using drones to survey that damage. 326 00:13:26,580 --> 00:13:27,780 In addition to these concerns, 327 00:13:27,780 --> 00:13:29,700 there were several other significant concerns 328 00:13:29,700 --> 00:13:31,200 reported by our state coordinators, 329 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,120 and these are just some of the highlights. 330 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:34,530 Mile-a-minute vine was reported 331 00:13:34,530 --> 00:13:36,360 in several northern states. 332 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:37,740 In New York, there's concern 333 00:13:37,740 --> 00:13:41,070 about several escaped populations of Japanese tree lilac, 334 00:13:41,070 --> 00:13:43,350 and work is being done looking at the species genetics 335 00:13:43,350 --> 00:13:46,263 to assess its invasive potential. 336 00:13:47,460 --> 00:13:49,980 Jumping worms are growing across the region, 337 00:13:49,980 --> 00:13:51,450 or are a growing concern across the region. 338 00:13:51,450 --> 00:13:53,400 They're probably also growing, 339 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:55,800 as are regeneration dynamics 340 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,860 due to browse competition with invasive plants 341 00:13:58,860 --> 00:14:01,800 and oak crop failure in Connecticut. 342 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:03,630 And then, in mature oaks, 343 00:14:03,630 --> 00:14:06,030 severe decline was mentioned as a concern by coordinators 344 00:14:06,030 --> 00:14:08,490 in both New York and New Hampshire. 345 00:14:08,490 --> 00:14:11,683 Okay, bad news is done. (laughs) 346 00:14:13,410 --> 00:14:14,550 But amidst all of this, 347 00:14:14,550 --> 00:14:16,800 FEMC's partners continue to do 348 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:18,330 really exciting and promising work, 349 00:14:18,330 --> 00:14:20,490 and I wanna share some highlights of those things 350 00:14:20,490 --> 00:14:22,230 with you guys today, too. 351 00:14:22,230 --> 00:14:24,150 I definitely don't have time to cover everything 352 00:14:24,150 --> 00:14:25,170 that everyone is doing, 353 00:14:25,170 --> 00:14:28,533 but I'm gonna mention one or so initiatives for each state. 354 00:14:32,670 --> 00:14:34,830 Vermont, New York, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, 355 00:14:34,830 --> 00:14:35,700 and maybe other states 356 00:14:35,700 --> 00:14:37,620 who just didn't tell me in their updates 357 00:14:37,620 --> 00:14:39,960 continued and expanded their biocontrol releases 358 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:42,420 for emerald ash borer and hemlock woolly adelgid, 359 00:14:42,420 --> 00:14:45,300 and Vermont also released a management guide 360 00:14:45,300 --> 00:14:47,130 for eastern hemlock conservation this year 361 00:14:47,130 --> 00:14:49,780 to help landowners and managers with hemlock decline. 362 00:14:50,670 --> 00:14:53,940 New York is heavily focused on state tree nursery expansion, 363 00:14:53,940 --> 00:14:55,740 which is an incredibly important initiative 364 00:14:55,740 --> 00:14:57,270 as nurseries struggle to keep up 365 00:14:57,270 --> 00:14:59,970 with our ever-growing demand for native trees 366 00:14:59,970 --> 00:15:01,413 for restoration work. 367 00:15:03,660 --> 00:15:05,520 New Hampshire has been exploring the possibility 368 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:07,380 of using drones for forest health assessments 369 00:15:07,380 --> 00:15:09,630 as they did this year to assess oak damage. 370 00:15:09,630 --> 00:15:11,100 Additionally, in New Hampshire last year, 371 00:15:11,100 --> 00:15:14,400 ash seeds were collected from 16 locations across the state 372 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,550 and planted at the nursery with good germination rates 373 00:15:17,550 --> 00:15:19,710 and a plan to plant them back out in the forest 374 00:15:19,710 --> 00:15:21,110 in the next couple of years. 375 00:15:23,850 --> 00:15:26,280 Maine has successfully established populations 376 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:27,450 of a parasitic fly 377 00:15:27,450 --> 00:15:29,490 as part of its winter moth biocontrol program 378 00:15:29,490 --> 00:15:31,533 that was started in 2013. 379 00:15:33,750 --> 00:15:35,430 Massachusetts reported no detections 380 00:15:35,430 --> 00:15:39,060 of Asian longhorn beetle by any method this year. 381 00:15:39,060 --> 00:15:43,230 Connecticut installed four slash walls in 2021 and 2022 382 00:15:43,230 --> 00:15:45,090 that have been successfully excluding deer 383 00:15:45,090 --> 00:15:46,680 and enhancing the diversity and growth 384 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:48,690 of regenerating trees. 385 00:15:48,690 --> 00:15:51,480 Our Connecticut coordinator reports that after one year, 386 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:53,430 oak stump sprouts are three times taller 387 00:15:53,430 --> 00:15:56,370 than inside the walls where deer are excluded, 388 00:15:56,370 --> 00:15:57,990 compared to outside the walls. 389 00:15:57,990 --> 00:15:59,280 And they also noted that, 390 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:03,570 although it is expensive to install slash walls, 391 00:16:03,570 --> 00:16:06,420 that they have found it to be worth the cost 392 00:16:06,420 --> 00:16:08,130 and less expensive than some other methods 393 00:16:08,130 --> 00:16:09,123 of excluding deer. 394 00:16:10,980 --> 00:16:13,080 And finally, Rhode Island is formulating 395 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:15,570 a southern pine beetle response plan in light of recent 396 00:16:15,570 --> 00:16:17,550 southern pine beetle outbreaks in the region, 397 00:16:17,550 --> 00:16:19,980 and that plan will include preventative management 398 00:16:19,980 --> 00:16:21,150 and assembling the resources 399 00:16:21,150 --> 00:16:23,193 to conduct suppression, if needed. 400 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:28,050 If you wanna learn any more about any of these things, 401 00:16:28,050 --> 00:16:29,370 here are our state coordinators again. 402 00:16:29,370 --> 00:16:30,600 And most of them are here today, 403 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,790 so these are what their faces look like. 404 00:16:32,790 --> 00:16:34,650 Some of them you can see on this slide 405 00:16:34,650 --> 00:16:35,940 and you should definitely go find them 406 00:16:35,940 --> 00:16:38,690 if you wanna learn more about any of those initiatives. 407 00:16:42,270 --> 00:16:44,820 All right, in the context of all of those changes, 408 00:16:44,820 --> 00:16:46,770 forest health stressors, and successes, 409 00:16:46,770 --> 00:16:48,840 FEMC has also been working to tackle 410 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:50,550 a lot of those challenges. 411 00:16:50,550 --> 00:16:52,140 So, I'm gonna share a few highlights 412 00:16:52,140 --> 00:16:54,240 of our work in those areas from this past year 413 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,013 with you this morning very briefly. 414 00:16:57,450 --> 00:16:59,880 First, as I expect everyone in the room knows, 415 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:01,410 recreation in forests in the Northeast 416 00:17:01,410 --> 00:17:03,450 has grown tremendously 417 00:17:03,450 --> 00:17:06,090 since the start of the COVID pandemic. 418 00:17:06,090 --> 00:17:09,180 This year, we completed an in-depth analysis 419 00:17:09,180 --> 00:17:12,270 of the impacts of recreation on northeastern forests, 420 00:17:12,270 --> 00:17:14,550 including both an inventory of methods available 421 00:17:14,550 --> 00:17:16,200 to monitor those impacts 422 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,200 and the creation of several geospatial layers 423 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:20,760 that will soon be publicly available 424 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:23,220 to help land managers and researchers better understand 425 00:17:23,220 --> 00:17:26,760 how forest health and recreation interact. 426 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:27,750 Up here, I have a picture 427 00:17:27,750 --> 00:17:31,860 of some of the GIS products that are available, 428 00:17:31,860 --> 00:17:34,470 and this is showing, 429 00:17:34,470 --> 00:17:36,720 the green scale, the dark green to light green, 430 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:38,970 is the size of contiguous forest blocks 431 00:17:38,970 --> 00:17:40,890 uninterrupted by recreation. 432 00:17:40,890 --> 00:17:42,360 That includes trails buffered out 433 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:44,610 to different distances for wildlife. 434 00:17:44,610 --> 00:17:45,780 And then, there's also, 435 00:17:45,780 --> 00:17:48,450 we were able to combine that with Strava data 436 00:17:48,450 --> 00:17:51,510 to get a sense of how frequently trails are being disturbed. 437 00:17:51,510 --> 00:17:54,360 The yellow to red scale is the Strava data, 438 00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:56,220 so you might, for example, see places 439 00:17:56,220 --> 00:17:58,560 where there are small blocks of forest, 440 00:17:58,560 --> 00:17:59,580 but they're not being disturbed 441 00:17:59,580 --> 00:18:00,840 that frequently by recreation, 442 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:02,250 so maybe not as big of a concern 443 00:18:02,250 --> 00:18:04,590 if you didn't combine those two pieces of information. 444 00:18:04,590 --> 00:18:08,310 There are many more layers that are going to be available 445 00:18:08,310 --> 00:18:10,560 and we have a poster about this project out today, 446 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:13,590 so if you wanna learn more, you should go check it out. 447 00:18:13,590 --> 00:18:16,020 And then, the Methods Working Group is, 448 00:18:16,020 --> 00:18:19,620 like I said, they've been analyzing the various methods 449 00:18:19,620 --> 00:18:20,910 that are available for assessing 450 00:18:20,910 --> 00:18:22,650 the impact of recreation on forests 451 00:18:22,650 --> 00:18:25,890 and are going to have a decision tree 452 00:18:25,890 --> 00:18:27,960 to help folks navigate which of those methods 453 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,543 might be appropriate in different circumstances. 454 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:36,450 Also, after several years in development, 455 00:18:36,450 --> 00:18:38,820 we released the Northeastern Forest Inventory Network, 456 00:18:38,820 --> 00:18:41,580 or NEFIN, which is a database and online web tool 457 00:18:41,580 --> 00:18:43,740 that increases accessibility and usability 458 00:18:43,740 --> 00:18:47,490 of forest inventory data by standardizing data 459 00:18:47,490 --> 00:18:50,340 from several different CFIs so that they're comparable, 460 00:18:50,340 --> 00:18:51,960 and also providing options 461 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,480 to download and visualize those data. 462 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:56,190 You can download both the original data 463 00:18:56,190 --> 00:18:57,900 from these continuous forest inventories, 464 00:18:57,900 --> 00:18:59,820 or the standardized data if you wanna be comparing 465 00:18:59,820 --> 00:19:02,190 against multiple data sets that are in this. 466 00:19:02,190 --> 00:19:03,540 And we are always, 467 00:19:03,540 --> 00:19:06,513 we have eight inventories currently in the database. 468 00:19:07,350 --> 00:19:08,820 We have a couple more in the hopper 469 00:19:08,820 --> 00:19:10,260 and we're always looking for more, 470 00:19:10,260 --> 00:19:13,050 so if you know of a long-term forest inventory program 471 00:19:13,050 --> 00:19:14,070 that we should be including, 472 00:19:14,070 --> 00:19:15,093 please let us know. 473 00:19:19,860 --> 00:19:22,470 All right, and then we also completed a second year 474 00:19:22,470 --> 00:19:24,270 of gathering forest health monitoring data 475 00:19:24,270 --> 00:19:26,880 from 194 plots across the entire region, 476 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:28,650 so we can now say that we have 477 00:19:28,650 --> 00:19:32,610 a region-wide multi-year data set. 478 00:19:32,610 --> 00:19:34,890 And we're excited to have another year of that this summer 479 00:19:34,890 --> 00:19:36,840 to make it three years region-wide. 480 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,050 Many of the plots extend back 30 years for Vermont, 481 00:19:40,050 --> 00:19:42,390 but some of these plots 482 00:19:42,390 --> 00:19:44,460 we just got to for the first time in 2022, 483 00:19:44,460 --> 00:19:46,200 so we're excited to have gotten 484 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,623 to all nearly 200 of them twice now. 485 00:19:51,030 --> 00:19:53,340 We also released the reports 486 00:19:53,340 --> 00:19:57,060 from both our 2021 and 2022 monitoring seasons this year. 487 00:19:57,060 --> 00:19:59,400 We had a little bit of a backlog, but now we're caught up, 488 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,440 and this year's report is going to be released 489 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:02,890 in the next couple of months. 490 00:20:04,140 --> 00:20:05,700 If you're interested in any of these three topics, 491 00:20:05,700 --> 00:20:07,050 I mentioned that the recreation project 492 00:20:07,050 --> 00:20:08,310 has a poster about NEFIN, 493 00:20:08,310 --> 00:20:11,250 and the Forest Health Monitoring season from this past year 494 00:20:11,250 --> 00:20:13,620 also have posters out in the fireplace lounge. 495 00:20:13,620 --> 00:20:14,790 So, if you're interested in hearing more 496 00:20:14,790 --> 00:20:15,630 about any of these things, 497 00:20:15,630 --> 00:20:17,103 please do go check those out. 498 00:20:19,860 --> 00:20:22,080 In the past year, we've also seen an expansion 499 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,150 of our partnership efforts and projects. 500 00:20:24,150 --> 00:20:26,880 For example, early this past year 501 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:28,560 in collaboration with New York DEC, 502 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:30,600 we applied for and were awarded 503 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:32,160 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding 504 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:34,050 for invasive species work. 505 00:20:34,050 --> 00:20:35,790 As states throughout the Northeast collect data 506 00:20:35,790 --> 00:20:37,890 on insect DNA that's ending up in their traps, 507 00:20:37,890 --> 00:20:39,570 FEMC will be working to develop 508 00:20:39,570 --> 00:20:41,400 an interactive geospatial database 509 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:43,470 that catalogs the resulting information 510 00:20:43,470 --> 00:20:46,680 to support early detection of invasive species, 511 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,200 as well as detection of rare or endangered species 512 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:50,790 or other insects of interest. 513 00:20:50,790 --> 00:20:52,050 This is a five-year project, 514 00:20:52,050 --> 00:20:53,910 so we're really just at the beginning stages, 515 00:20:53,910 --> 00:20:55,110 but we're really excited to be working 516 00:20:55,110 --> 00:20:57,480 with this cutting-edge technology as it develops 517 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:00,380 and are looking forward to seeing where this project goes. 518 00:21:02,100 --> 00:21:04,508 This year, we also awarded more than $100,000 519 00:21:04,508 --> 00:21:07,740 in FEMC funding to five ecosystem monitoring fund projects 520 00:21:07,740 --> 00:21:10,530 covering topics ranging from assessing the effectiveness 521 00:21:10,530 --> 00:21:14,130 of low-cost dendrometers compared to standard dendrometers, 522 00:21:14,130 --> 00:21:16,050 to monitoring the impacts of cold-air pooling 523 00:21:16,050 --> 00:21:17,523 in northeastern forests. 524 00:21:19,950 --> 00:21:21,390 Looking ahead to 2024, 525 00:21:21,390 --> 00:21:23,340 we're gonna tackle a new region-wide project, 526 00:21:23,340 --> 00:21:24,390 which, as Justin mentioned, 527 00:21:24,390 --> 00:21:25,950 the Steering Committee and state coordinators 528 00:21:25,950 --> 00:21:29,760 met yesterday afternoon to discuss what that might be. 529 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:31,230 We will be diving into 530 00:21:31,230 --> 00:21:33,510 the regional insect DNA project in earnest, 531 00:21:33,510 --> 00:21:35,550 and we'll be taking on a couple of state-focused projects, 532 00:21:35,550 --> 00:21:36,693 as well as a lot more.