Bill Widrig, a volunteer with the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program’s Forest Pest Hunters program, was on his way to climb a rock wall on Goodman Mountain, just south of Tupper Lake, when he noticed an all-too-familiar site: the telltale leaf banding of beech leaf disease.
Widrig said it wasn’t the first time he’s stumbled upon a new infestation of an invasive forest pest. “It’s happened two or three times, but this was one of the most surprising because I didn’t think beech leaf disease was this far north yet,” Widrig said.
Widrig is right—the next closest confirmed BLD location is along the Boreas River south of Newcomb, about 45 miles from Goodman Mountain.
“The rate of spread for BLD is faster than any forest pest I have encountered,” said APIPP Terrestrial Invasive Species Manager Ari Giller-Leinwohl.
“That’s why the work of our Forest Pest Hunters is so valuable. It helps us to better understand how these species move around the landscape and it informs any future management and spread prevention strategies.”
Part of the reason Widrig is so aware of invasive species is because he spends a lot of time exploring the Adirondacks; the other is because he’s a long-time Forest Pest Hunter. APIPP is the host of the Adirondack PRISM, a partnership funded by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Widrig has logged more than 1,500 reports for BLD and hemlock woolly adelgid, a forest pest that volunteers search for in the winter months, over the course of his five years as a volunteer. Now, looking for invasive species is second nature to him.
“It gives me more of a connection to the forest,” Widrig said. “The connection was there before, but now I feel like I’m out there trying to protect my best friends. I feel like it’s all a part of my extended family, the animals, plants, and trees.”
Every summer, APIPP trains volunteers like Widrig on how to identify and report BLD, which is caused by an invasive nematode that was first confirmed in the Adirondacks in 2022. It can kill a mature beech tree within 10 years.
Volunteer Forest Pest Hunters adopt trails on an interactive trail map, then they monitor that trail for BLD at least once during the survey season, which runs through September.
Once volunteers monitor their selected trail or trails, they report whether or not they found BLD using the iMapInvasives app.
“Reporting an invasive species is incredibly easy to do, and it doesn’t take much time at all,” Widrig said.
For people who enjoy being on the water, APIPP has a Lake Protectors program that also runs through September. Volunteer Lake Protectors adopt a waterbody and look for any of the 16 aquatic invasive species that APIPP is most concerned with.
Both programs are beginner friendly; recordings and other training resources are online, and there are events every summer for those looking to get onto the trail or water to learn from a naturalist.
The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP) serves as the Adirondack Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM), one of eight partnerships across New York.
APIPP is hosted by The Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and receives financial support from the Environmental Protection Fund administered by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Read more about Invasive Species in New York State
Photo of Bill Widrig climbing by Tad Welch.
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