USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

Dave Cappaert, MSU

Jon Sweeney, Canadian Forest Service

Forest Health Protection

Ryan P. Hanavan, Ph.D.

Forest Entomologist

Durham Field Office

Durham, NH

USDA Forest Service

Northeastern Area

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryForest Health ProtectionMission:

Protect and improve the health of America’s rural, wildland,

and urban forests

What we do:

Provide technical assistance on forest health related matters

particularly those related to disturbance agents such as

native and non-native insects, pathogens, and invasive plants

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryForest Health ProtectionVision:

Work with partners to bring together all stakeholders to

protect and improve the health of the Nation’s forested

lands

What we do:

Strive to optimize on-the-ground benefits by continuing to

fund core components

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryFHP Strategic Framework

Four Core Program Components:

1. Technical Assistance (>250 specialists)

2. Survey and Monitoring (“rapid” & “early”)

3. Treatments (response to conditions on the ground)

4. Technology Development (“faster”, “better”)

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

Seven Strategic Areas

1. Risk reduction

2. Invasive species

3. Suppression

4. Survey & monitoring

5. Forest health expertise

6. Technology development

7. Information management & dissemination

Forest Health Protection

Photo: Sonari Glinton

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryDurham Field Office - Service Region

State *Land Area *Forested Area %

Connecticut 3,101,000 1,687,000 54

Maine 19,753,000 17,665,000 89

Massachusetts 5,016,000 3,015,000 60

New Hampshire 5,740,000 4,826,000 84

New York 30,233,000 18,964,000 63

Rhode Island 668,000 352,000 53

Vermont 5,920,000 4,580,000 77

2006 NLCD

FIA 2011

*acres

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryEarly Detection – Early Warning

“First Line of Defense”

“Front Line”

“Fire Alarms”

Risk reductionTrapping, annual

detection survey,

screening, regulation

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

Actions:

• Use the risk map, site-specific information, and other factors

to help determine where treatments should take place

• Develop integrated, effective prevention strategies to reduce

risk

• Implement, with partners, these strategies in an

environmentally sensitive manner

• Revise the risk map on an as-needed basis

Risk Reduction

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryRisk Reduction Product

Risk = likelihood that an

insect outbreak will

cause significant

economic or

environmental damage

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

Most widely used forest

parameters:

Stand basal area (BA)

Stand density index (SDI)

Quadratic mean diameter

(QMD)

Plot data were interpolated

to create uniform surfaces

that capture natural

variations in forest

parameters. Sirex noctillio

Risk Reduction Product

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

Actions:

• Continue to work with cooperators to aggressively prevent,

rapidly detect, and respond early

• Develop survey systems and databases that will enhance

early detection and tracking

• Mitigate adverse ecological, economic, and social effects

• Conduct risk analyses, evaluate and monitor pesticide use,

and support (as-needed) pesticide applications

Invasive Species

~400 new species of insects in Northeastern forests

since the mid-1800’s!

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryHistoric NE insect & disease pests

Agent Vector?

(Y/N)

Vector Discovery

Date

Gypsy moth,

Lymantria dispar

N ~1860’s

Chestnut blight,

Cryphonextria parasitica

Y Wind, wildlife ~1900

Dutch elm disease,

Ophiostoma ulmi

Y Elm bark beetle,

Scolytus multistriatus

~1930

Beech bark disease,

Nectria coccinea

Y Beech scale,

Cryptococcus fagisuga

1932

Hemlock woolly adelgid.

Adelges tsugae

Y Wind, wildlife 1951

Sudden oak death,

Phytophthora ramorum

N 1995

Asian longhorned beetle,

Anoplophora glabripennis

N 1996

Emerald ash borer,

Agrilus plannipens

N 2002

Sirex woodwasp,

Sirex noctillio

N 2004

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestrySirex Woodwasp - Sirex noctillio

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryHemlock Woolly Adelgid – Adelges tsugae

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryEmerald Ash Borer – Agrilus planipennis

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryAsian longhorned beetle – Anoplophora glabripennis

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

Actions:

• Maintain a strong technical and financial capability to

anticipate suppression needs and implement projects

effectively

• Work with cooperators to determine suppression priorities

• Improve application technologies

• Conduct post-project reviews

• Ensure project contracts and plans to adequately address

security and safety issues

Suppression

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

Actions:

• Target survey and monitoring efforts to areas where the most

serious threats to forest health exist and where corrective

action is feasible

• Prepare timely analyses and reports

• Complete pilot projects on difficult to monitor forests, such as

those in urban and riparian areas

Survey & Monitoring

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestrySurvey & Monitoring

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

Actions:

• Assess technical assistance needs of resource managers,

cooperators, and other customers, and adjust staffing levels,

if possible, to meet identified needs

• Encourage a high level of forest health expertise in State

Forestry and agriculture organizations

• Build stronger linkages to USFS Research and universities

and support their efforts

• Encourage continuing education and experience-based

learning for specialists

Forest Health Expertise

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryForest Health Expertise

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryForest Health Expertise

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

Actions:

• Identify, develop, and refine effective biological controls for

major insect pests and invasive plants

• Develop, refine, and register pheromones and other

behavioral chemicals

• Make nationally operational the use of advanced remote

sensing tools for early detection

• Make nationally operational the use of enhanced prediction

tools/models

Technology Development

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

Actions:

• Use the risk map, site-specific information, and other factors

to help determine where treatments should take place

• Develop integrated, effective prevention strategies to reduce

risk

• Implement, with partners, these strategies in an

environmentally sensitive manner.

• Revise the risk map on an as-needed basis

Information Management & Dissemination

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

FORWARN Change Assessment Viewer – % change in NDVI

Information Management & Dissemination

USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry

The emerald ash borer has successfully colonized 22 U.S.

states, and two Canadian provinces (Ontario, and Quebec).

Partners – NASA, USFS FHP, USFS NRS, UVM

Develop a robust pest detection tool using hyperspectral,

LiDAR, and thermal imagery techniques with broad

applicability to forest and urban insect and disease threats.

“Data Fusion”

Information Management & Dissemination

USDA Forest Service State and Private ForestryThank You!