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Field Notes

Field Notes: Yellow-Poplar Weevil Makes Presence Known in Southwest Virginia

July 23, 2019 - by VDOF Forest Health Program Manager Lori Chamberlin The yellow-poplar weevil has made its presence known again in southwest Virginia. This native insect generally causes very little damage, but the population increased enough this summer to have a noticeable impact on yellow-poplars in the southwest part of the state. The weevils are black and small, only about 1/8th of an inch long. Since this pest is a weevil, it has... Read More

Field Notes

Wildland Firefighter Week of Remembrance

July 1, 2019 - by VDOF Wildfire Prevention Program Manager Fred Turck June 30 through July 6 provides an opportunity for those who manage and battle wildland fires to remember, reflect and learn from the tragic incidents that have taken the lives of wildland firefighters. This week invites us to examine the past and lessen the likelihood that such tragedies will recur in the future. We will never have zero wildfires; however, we can... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: VDOF Supports Dominion Energy’s Project Plant It!

June 24, 2019 - by Sara Hunt, Project Plant It! Page Hutchinson, the VDOF’s forest education specialist, shared her knowledge of trees with students who were enrolled in Dominion Energy’s Project Plant It! program. During the month of April, she visited Meriwether Lewis Elementary in Albemarle County and Thomas Jefferson Elementary in Louisa County. Her interactive presentations helped the students understand more about the products that come from trees and also about the important... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: What’s in the Woods Today? May 15, 2019

June 5, 2019 - Brush Piles and ‘Possums and Other Little Surprises By Area Forester Lisa Deaton As I was walking through a clearcut to help a landowner consider reforestation options, I saw an opossum cross a nearby dirt road. I thought to myself, “Surely I can outrun a ‘possum and take some photos.” However, I had to hop over logging debris and briars, while the opossum followed its well-worn path through the vines... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: WTREX: Newly Discovered Dinosaur, Latest Workout Craze or Something Better?

May 8, 2019 - by Area Forester Sarah Parmelee What is TREX? TREX is a prescribed fire training (TR) exchange (EX) held by the Nature Conservancy as part of their North American Fire Initiative. WTREX is a training exchange, for women. These two-week events bring fire practitioners together to share experience and get training. Ideally, those two weeks feature a lot of fire. This will give attendees the opportunity to apply learned techniques and... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: White Pine Monitoring in Western Virginia

April 29, 2019 - By Forest Health Specialist Katlin Mooneyham Eastern white pine is a species commonly found in forests in the western part of the state. In Virginia, eastern white pine is grown for wood production, Christmas trees, holiday garland and ornamental plantings. In 2006, former VDOF Forester John Wright noticed that white pines were declining in his work area in Highland County. He called the forest health program manager at the time,... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: What’s in the Woods Today? April 22, 2019

April 22, 2019 - by Area Forester Lisa Deaton Two Snake Day! Last week the sun was shining, and the fresh spring foliage and flowers were lovely.  The road in the photo above was a Gloucester County state road until Beaverdam Reservoir was built in 1989,  submerging a section of this road. Pawpaw blooms (Asimina triloba) Eastern redbud blooms can resemble tiny hummingbirds. (Cercis canadensis) Then I almost stepped on a copperhead snake heading... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: What’s in the Woods Today? March 18 2019

April 11, 2019 - By Area Forester Lisa Deaton Parasitic Plants American or eastern mistletoe, Phoradendrum leucarpum, is a common parasite of oaks and maples in the Coastal Plain of Virginia. Birds carry the sticky white mistletoe seeds from tree to tree.  The seeds sprout and their roots grow into the host tree to extract water and nutrients. In our eastern deciduous forests, winter provides a clearer view into the woods.  The deciduous leaves... Read More

Stories

Centipede-shaped Galleries, Made by a Beetle!

March 13, 2019 - The southern pine beetle typically gets all the attention, but there are other native bark beetles in our forests that often go unnoticed. One such beetle is the hickory bark beetle, Scolytus quadrispinosus. Adults are black, stout, and small – about 1/5 inch long. They fly to the tops of trees and feed on terminal growth, and then bore into the bark of trunks and branches to lay eggs. Females... Read More

Notices

National Invasive Species Awareness Week

February 26, 2019 - National Invasive Species Awareness Week kicked off this week.  A series of events and webinars offered throughout the week aim to raise awareness and identify solutions to invasive species issues at local, state, tribal, regional, international and national scales. Invasive species are plants, insects, pathogens or other animals intentionally or accidentally introduced into a region where they did not evolve. Their introduction causes, or is likely to cause, economic or... Read More