Paul Szmal: She's the Invasive Species Committee Chair for the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association. Linda Sampson joins us now on FLX Morning. Hi Linda, how are you this morning?
Guest: I'm good, how are you Paul?
Paul Szmal: Good, good. Tell me what the Invasive Species Committee arm of Seneca Lake Pure Waters does.
Guest: We follow all invasive species that are in the area and ones that may be coming into the area and we do a lot of education and outreach trying to let the community know what's going on and what they should look for and how to take care of some of these invasive species.
Paul Szmal: And unfortunately it sounds like when you use the word species we're not talking about the singular but unfortunately the plural.
Guest: Yeah and the the bad thing about invasive species are that they seem to be able to acclimate to this region so well, any new region, and reproduce really quickly.
Paul Szmal: What is the most important invasive species that we need to worry about right now?
Guest: There are two new ones that come to mind. Oak wilt disease is a fungal infection that's affecting oak trees and it can really kill oak trees very quickly. So it's important to watch your oak trees if you see dried leaves when there shouldn't be dried leaves. Unfortunately it starts at the top and works its way down and it's important to never trim your trees in the summer months, only do it in the winter so that this fungus doesn't have a way to get in. The other one is Asian longhorned beetle. That too is taking a hit on trees. It's started in Brooklyn but this beetle drills round holes into elm, poplar, birch, but it loves maples so it's a really important one to watch for because it too will kill the trees.
Paul Szmal: I want to go back to the oak maple or the oak wilt for a second. How does that relate to damage to the watershed?
Guest: Oh yeah, great question. You know, it's all interconnected just like the hemlock woolly adelgid with the hemlock trees. The hemlocks keep the water cool and the soil from eroding and they're a really important ecosystem. So are the maples and the oaks. They're, you know, all important to our forest ecosystem surrounding the watershed of the lake.
Paul Szmal: And how about the beetles? I mean, other than being, you know, pesky and an insect that people generally don't want to deal with, what potential effects can they have?
Guest: The Asian longhorned beetle? Yes, yes. Just they drill these round holes into maples and they just make Swiss cheese out of the trunk of the tree. So it doesn't take long and it becomes just like the the ash borer in that it'll kill trees quite rapidly.
Paul Szmal: Got it, got it. We're talking with Linda Sampson. She's the chair of the Invasive Species Committee, if I can get the words out, from the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association here on FLX Morning. So we've established a couple of new species that we're worried about. There are still the returning species. You mentioned the the hemlock gelid... I can't pronounce it.
Guest: Adelgid?
Paul Szmal: Yeah, yeah, what she said. Just having a hard time pronouncing stuff this morning. But you mentioned the hemlock stuff and that's been a problem now for a few years, right?
Guest: Yeah, it's honestly, I think it's been in the country down south since the 1950s. So it's been around for a while.
Paul Szmal: So I guess the big question, especially when it comes to these new species that are coming in, is what can we do to either mitigate the damage they do or possibly get rid of them?
Guest: Ah, things are really hard to get rid of once they get established. Mitigation is important. I would say be vigilant if you have trees and land and forests. Always be looking at your trees for signs and symptoms of some of these. Like I said with the oak wilt, you will see, you know, dried up wilted oak leaves when they shouldn't be there. So fall's not a good time. But and and not trimming, not trimming the trees in the summer months, spring and summer months. And then reporting is important. Reporting the problem to experts like people at Finger Lakes Prism or the DEC. There's always numbers available online or you could probably do it through IMAP invasives on on your app on your phone. And then you have to, you know, deal with the problem in whatever way is kind of the best management practice at the time.
Paul Szmal: And that data collection is important because with that data collection, you're not only able to learn just how far these invasive species have kind of permeated into the area, but also where they're permeating into the area.
Guest: Yes, it's really important. And who is responsible for doing that? That's, I imagine, part of the volunteer force that Seneca Lake Pure Waters employs.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, well, we partner with Finger Lakes Prism and they keep track of a lot of invasive species with IMAP invasive and survey 123. So whenever there's a problem, the reporting gets done online. I mean, I'm sure there are phone numbers you can call as well. But reaching out to those professional resources is the best thing to do.
Guest: And what is the committee going to be working on here as we head into the summer months?
Paul Szmal: Well, next summer is New York State Invasive Species Week. And we will be having a tabling event at the Finger Lakes Visitor Center in Geneva. We'll be there on the 11th and 12th, Thursday and Friday. So you can come on down if you're interested in that. Oh, yes, then we're the following weekend, we are going to be doing the Watkins Glen Cardboard Boat Regatta tabling event there for outreach. That should be a lot of fun. That festival is just really nice to attend. And then later on, we'll probably be in Hector doing a family affair engagement and outreach at their kind of fair that they're holding. And it's important that you go to these variety of events because, you know, again, the idea here is to get the word out to people to be on the lookout for this stuff that they may not necessarily be paying attention to or looking for.
Guest: Right. So how do people get involved with Seneca Lake Pure Waters?
Paul Szmal: You can go online at senecalake.org backslash volunteer and fill out a volunteer form. There's a button at the top and select invasive species or whatever kind of arm of our group that you're interested in. You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or just visit the website at senecalake.org.
Guest: Yeah. And if you want to get the newsletter and that's got a lot of good information, you can go to senecalake.org slash Lake Watch and have that delivered right to your inbox. That's senecalake.org slash Lake Watch.
Paul Szmal: If you were going to rate things on a scale of one to ten, Linda, as far as invasive species go in the Finger Lakes region, you know, ten being the worst case scenario, one being the, I guess, good situation, where would you rank us right now?
Guest: Oh boy. Oh, I don't know if I can answer that. I don't feel knowledgeable enough.
Paul Szmal: All right, I'll give it a try.
Guest: Sure. I don't know. How about a four or five?
Paul Szmal: Okay. Okay. So it's not the worst situation in the world, but we do have some issues that we're dealing with.
Guest: Yes, for sure.
Paul Szmal: Okay. Okay. The committee will, I imagine, reach out to not only, you know, groups like you mentioned, like Finger Lakes PRISM and the DEC, but do you also have any connection with regional and state lawmakers?
Guest: Yes. Our association director, Ben Klein, is always in touch with the regional and state lawmakers, and whenever there's a really big problem, we formulate a plan and write letters and contact them when necessary. And, you know, just so everybody is aware, just because the legislative session is going to wrap up maybe today and Albany for the balance of the year doesn't mean that your local representatives are not working. So if you want to reach out to your representative, if you notice any of these issues or you're reading the newsletter and, you know, feel like it's something that should have attention drawn to it, you can always reach out to your respective representative on your own.
Paul Szmal: Yes. All right. Linda, we appreciate it. Thank you very much. Again, if you want to find out more information to volunteer or to get that newsletter so you can keep up to date on some of the data and research that is coming in, the website is SenecaLake.org. That's SenecaLake.org. Linda, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it. Have a great weekend.
Guest: Thank you. Same to you.
