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MILL SPRING—Conserving Carolina is inviting the community to a free lecture entitled, “Hope for the Hemlocks,” on Saturday, January 20, at 10:30 a.m. The lecture will be presented by Olivia Hall and Thom Green from Hemlock Restoration Initiative at the Anne Elizabeth Suratt Nature Center at Walnut Creek Preserve.

North Carolina’s hemlock trees need your help. In North Carolina, there are two species of hemlock, the eastern and the Carolina hemlock, and the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid threatens both. 

Though hemlocks are declining, there is hope to bring them back to their previous glory. The mission of Hemlock Restoration Initiative is to work with a variety of partners and existing programs to restore hemlocks to long-term health throughout North Carolina and ensure that eastern and Carolina hemlocks can resist hemlock woolly adelgid and survive to maturity on North Carolina’s public and private lands. 

Join Olivia and Thom from the Hemlock Restoration Initiative to learn about hemlock ecology, woolly adelgid biology, what is being done to help and management strategies to take care of hemlocks on your own land.

This lecture is part of Conserving Carolina’s monthly Speaker Series at Walnut Creek Preserve.  Pre-registration is required. To register and for more information, visit Conserving Carolina’s website and “calendar” tab, conservingcarolina.org/calendar.

The next program at Walnut Creek Preserve will be held on February 17, when Winslow Umberger of Appalachian Wildlife Refuge, will present, “Simple Ways to Mutually Co-Exist with Wildlife in our Own Backyards.”

For more information about Walnut Creek Preserve, visit walnutcreekpreserve.com.  Please note, Walnut Creek Preserve is private property and guests are only allowed on the property by invitation (a planned event or scheduled group). The Nature Center is located at 179 Conservatory Lane in Mill Spring.

Submitted by Pam Torlina