The future is looking a little brighter for North Georgia's hemlock trees.
The stately evergreens are threatened by an invasive insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid, which has killed trees throughout much of the Eastern United States.
But several species of Japanese beetles are known to feed exclusively on the adelgid. The University of Georgia is constructing a lab to breed the beetles, which will then be released throughout the Chattahoochee National Forest.
The initial cost of the project, including remodeling the building and hiring a coordinator, is about $287,000, funded partially through the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
It's expected to cost about $171,000 a year to operate the facility, and right now UGA is still about $35,000 short.
That's the purpose of Hemlockfest, a fundraiser scheduled for Nov. 3-4 at Starbridge, a privately-owned tract of land near Dahlonega.
The Lumpkin Coalition, a Dahlonega-based advocacy group, held the first Hemlockfest last year at Three Sisters Vineyards.
"We changed sites this year because we wanted a two-day festival, and Three Sisters did not have a camping option on their property," said Murray Lamb, one of the coordinators of the event.
The festival will feature a number of bands performing folk, bluegrass and Celtic music as well as music from other genres. Also planned are children's activities, arts and crafts, and food for sale, catered by the Crimson Moon.
But for anyone who wants to drink alcohol, it's BYOB. Last year, the Lumpkin Coalition was able to take advantage of the vineyard's liquor license. This year, Lamb said, his nonprofit was unable to get a two-day pouring permit from Lumpkin County to serve beer at Starbridge.
He hopes that won't deter anyone from attending the festival.
"We really want to get that lab at UGA up and running by spring," he said. "The adelgid infestation just reached Lumpkin and Dawson counties this year (after first entering Georgia via Rabun County about three years ago). We need to take action before the trees are severely affected."
The Forest Service has already been releasing some beetles, obtained from a lab at Clemson University, in certain areas of the Chattahoochee.
"They have a very specific target list," said Lamb. "We're hoping that once the UGA lab is operational, there will be an abundance of beetles available and they can be released at more sites that aren't on the list."
Here's the encouraging news: If the beetles are dispersed throughout the national forest soon, there's scientific evidence that they could perform as intended.
In Connecticut, which in 1995 became the first state to try attacking the adelgid with predatory beetles, heavily infested groves of hemlocks are showing signs of recovery.
Carole Cheah, a research entomologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, has reported that even hemlocks which seemed all but dead now appear to be bouncing back.
In Georgia, the hemlock project began as a last-ditch effort. Forest Hilyer, co-organizer of the Lumpkin Coalition, said environmentalists started pushing for a beetle lab in Georgia without knowing whether the strategy would make any difference.
"(This new research) gives me a burst of hope and motivation," Hilyer said. "We've got a chance, but we need to get massive numbers of beetles out there. In Georgia, we have the opportunity to get a better result than most other states have had, because we can hit the problem at an earlier stage."The Gainesville Times
