March 28, 2000

If you have walked the Reservation recently, you have seen the intensity of the adelgid infestation. The smallest branches hang heavy with white death. They sag threadbare, wan, as if mourning the fatal illness of the starving great trunk soon to fall.

As you know, no money needed to grow ladybugs to kill adelgids was included in the Fiscal Year 2000 budget. The first draft of the 2001 budget prepared by the Governor’s office and by the Massachusetts House also excluded these funds, but they have been included in the Senate budget through the efforts of Senator Birmingham. The matter now rests with the budget conference committee. We urge you to contact your legislators to support funding for this project.

September 17, 1999

There has been movement on the adelgid front since our last update and the Governor’s veto of funding to save the trees. The Boston Globe did a major story on the adelgid, but without mentioning Hemlock Gorge.