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Download the ACA Communications Toolkit
Today!
The Communications
Toolkit is designed to guide camp professionals
at all levels in their media relations
activities. A downloadable and printable
version of the toolkit is available . .
. print out this valuable communications
resource and have it handy as you start
the camp season.
There's More Than One Way to Make
a S'more!
According to Hershey's, there are many flavorful recipes and cooking tips
for perfect S'mores around the campfire. Visit www.smoresfun.com for
summertime S'mores recipes.
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Firewood: Reduce
the Risk of Invasive Insects
As camp professionals, you might have heard recently about how moving firewood
long distances serves to rapidly accelerate the spread of exotic invasive insects
around the country. Invasive insects spread naturally on their own only about
five to forty miles each year. On the other hand, someone moving infested firewood
in a vehicle might spread forest-harming insects hundreds of miles in a single
day.
To reduce the risk of invasive insects
harming our beautiful native woodlands,
including camp sites like yours, forest
health managers are discouraging campers
from moving firewood more than a few miles
from home to camp, and vice versa. Instead,
they recommend people either buy or gather
wood locally, then burn it completely.
When it comes to reducing the human-caused
spread of invasive insects, limiting firewood
movement is the key. If you have your own
source of firewood on your property, by
all means use it on site. If you don't
have your own source of firewood though,
consider contracting with a local firewood
supplier to provide a steady stream of
firewood for campers. Even if the commercially-supplied
local firewood becomes infested at some
point, it will only have moved a few miles,
not several hundred.
If you suspect you might have a new insect
infestation on your trees, please notify
your appropriate state forestry agency
to inform them about the concern.
The firewood/invasive species issue also
represents a potential "teachable" moment.
You might want to use a few minute's
time gathered around a campfire to talk
with your campers about how important it
is to keep firewood movement to a minimum
to reduce the spread of invasive insects.
If applicable, you might also show spots
where trees on your property or nearby
have been harmed directly by invasive bugs
such as emerald ash borer, hemlock woolly
adelgid, or some other exotic pest.
Firewood itself is not the problem. Instead,
it's the potentially harmful insects
often lying hidden underneath the bark,
sometimes deep in the wood, that are the
real concern. The firewood in this case
simply serves as an accidental conveyance
for moving forest-harming bugs. Most firewood
infestations go undetected to the untrained
eye.
Remember to keep the firewood local. Following
these practices will go a long way to reducing
the spread of invasive insects and help
to keep your forests looking beautiful
for generations to come.
(Contributed by Glenn Rosenholm, U.S. Forest
Service Northeastern Area)
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