APIPP to host trainings for invasive species

KEENE VALLEY | The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP) has three upcoming trainings for people who want to give back to the forests and waters they love. The free, in-person workshops will train volunteers how to identify, monitor for, and report invasive species through APIPP's Lake Protectors and Forest Pest Hunters programs. The trainings are open to everyone. The first event, the Lake Protectors In-Person Training, is from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 8, at Darrin Fresh Water Institute in Bolton Landing. APIPP Aquatic Invasive Species Manager Anna Hardiman will teach attendees the basics of APIPP's Lake Protectors program, including how to identify the invasive plants and animals that have been confirmed in Adirondack waterbodies. Lake Protector volunteers adopt a waterbody of their choice to monitor at least once in summer or fall, and they report their findings back to APIPP. In doing so, the volunteers are becoming part of a larger, necessary effort to track the presence of invasive species across the Adirondacks. Since the program's inception in 2002, hundreds of volunteer Lake Protectors have surveyed more than 460 Adirondack waterbodies. The next free APIPP training is the Guided Beech Leaf Disease Walk to Edgecomb Pond and Bradley's Lookout, which is scheduled for 10 a.m.-noon on Thursday, Aug. 15. Naturalists with APIPP and the Lake George Land Conservancy will review basic plant identification before teaching attendees how to identify and report beech leaf disease (BLD). Attendees will also be encouraged to adopt a trail to monitor for BLD at least once before Oct. 15 through APIPP's Forest Pest Hunters program. BLD kills beech leaves and eventually causes the tree to die. It was first detected in Ohio in 2012 and has spread rapidly across the Northeast. It was first found in the Adirondacks in 2021. Beech trees are the third most common species in the Adirondacks and account for just over 12.5 percent of forest volume. Hemlock and ash, which are also under attack from invasive species, account for another 12.5 percent. Reporting BLD is important to help scientists better understand how the disease spreads and how to manage it. The Aug. 14 walk will begin at the Edgecomb Pond parking area on Edgecomb Pond Road in Bolton Landing and continue up the trail, where there are trees that have been infected with BLD. The final Forest Pest Hunters training of the year will take place in mid-September. The exact date and location will be announced soon. To register for a Lake Protectors training, visit adkinvasives.com/events. For more information on the Lake Protectors program, visit adkinvasives.com/GetInvolved. For more information on APIPP's Forest Pest Hunters program, visit www.adkinvasives.com. APIPP's mission is to work in partnership to minimize the impact of invasive species on the Adirondack region's communities, lands, and waters. Learn more at adkinvasives.com.

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APIPP to host trainings for invasive species

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