Our Vanishing Hemlocks

I wish I had taken the photo with the waterfall. It was very similar to the mix of green and grey that has taken over our mountains.

This video shows the devastation occurring in our mountains. When I traveled with a dear friend through Maggie Valley and up into Tennessee the end of July, I saw the landscape rife with dead, gray trees. It has been so incredibly pervasive. I knew the drought had been terrible, and still is, in the region, but I suspected a borer or pest was the culprit since all the trees seemed to have the same leaf or needle. The trees have been infested by an introduced insect pest — the hemlock woolly adelgid. Honestly, it was so devastating that I didn't even recognize the trees. I don't even know if the Eastern Hemlock will recover once you see how much we have lost.

Can we save the hemlocks?

The Vanishing Hemlock: a race against time is a documentary to bring attention to the need for action. The government's lack of response has posed the greatest hazard. We can hope enough resources will come in to save the last old-growth stand of our beautiful Easter Hemlocks.

Research is showing how the large stands of hemlocks have created a unique ecosystem and now that is being threatened.