Public advisory: WSDA says check your trees, wreathes for invasive species. (2022, December 19) KXRO News Radio. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://www.kx ro.com/public-advisory-wsda-says-check-your-trees-wreathes-for-invasive-species/
The Washington State Department of Agriculture (i.e., WSDA) is asking Washington residents to check their trees, wreathes, and other holiday plants for elongate hemlock scale (i.e., EHS). EHS is an invasive insect species that feeds on cedar, fir, hemlock, pine, spruce, and yew. People are advised to buy locally grown trees and cut greens. Any plants suspected to be contaminated by EHS should be photographed, and one should email the images and where the plant was purchased to PestProgram@agr.wa.gov. The plants should then be cut up, double-bagged, and thrown in the trash.
This article relates to environmental science because EHS is an invasive species that, if not controlled, will reproduce quickly and harm many cedar, fir, hemlock, pine, spruce, and yew by overfeeding on them. This would cause damage to the local ecosystems as these plants are producers, and this article tells people how to mitigate the negative impacts of this invasive species and prevent its spread. Once again, I am glad that state governments are taking action against the spread of invasive species, but since EHS is a small insect that, if not in large quantities, might be very hard to spot, I don’t think everyone will dispose of their infested holiday plants. However, I do think that this warning will slow, if not completely stop, the spread of EHS in Washington. It’s also good that the actions that must be taken to dispose of infested plants are relatively simple, meaning that more people are likely to follow them. Plus, people will most likely check their plants after seeing this warning because even if they don’t care that EHS is an invasive species, they probably don’t want insects in their homes.
I agree with you! I like that the government is taking action to prevent from the spread of EHS continues to get worse through the holidays. However, I think its important that more awareness is spread to people who live in Washington. If not done, the government should add enforcements the tree suppliers check their trees before selling them to people. People will not check their trees and I think that would be helpful.
Thank you for reading my post. I also think greater awareness should be spread to the people living in Washington. I would assume that lack of knowledge is one of the greatest hurdles the state will have to face in regards to stopping the species’ spread.
I liked how you emphasized the need to buy locally grown trees and cut greens to reduce the risk of introducing invasive species. One question I had was while the article mentions the importance of taking action to prevent the spread of invasive species, it doesn’t go into detail about the potential long-term consequences of EHS infestations. Could you provide more information on how EHS can harm local ecosystems and what steps are being taken to address this issue in Washington state?
Thank you for reading my post. It seems that EHS can cause needles to drop off trees and occasionally cause them to die, so it’s important to keep them from spreading, which is was spreading this warning is for.