Elise Stefanik: “America's forests are one of our greatest natural resources: building our homes, empowering local economies, providing…”

“America's forests are one of our greatest natural resources: building our homes, empowering local economies, providing for sportsmen and women, and even supplying energy for Fort Drum, in my district. Unfortunately, our vast forests are under constant threat from the scourge of invasive species. These intruders bring not only ecological harm, but damage the economic viability of the communities that rely on these forests. Forests face added pressure when the invasive species attacking them are resistant to known remedies, face no known natural predators, and are spread easily by human land use. My district is home of the Adirondacks. With 6 million acres of parkland, I am deeply concerned with the spread of invasive species. One particular example of an invasive pest that is destroying American forests and threatens the Adirondack Park is the hemlock woolly adelgid. This sap-sucking insect is causing the widespread death and decline of hemlock trees not only in the Adirondacks, but in the eastern United States. Since its arrival in the U.S. in the 1920s, the hemlock woolly adelgid has spread rapidly from New England, all the way down to the Great Smoky Mountains, feeding on eastern hemlock and Carolina hemlock in 17 States. This invasive species has few natural enemies in the eastern States, and native trees are neither resistant nor tolerant to their feeding.…”