MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – More than 3,000 hemlock trees in Lake Harbor Park on Lake Michigan will be treated for a deadly bug as part of an effort to treat 600 acres of public property in Muskegon and Ottawa counties.
The hemlock woolly adelgid, or HWA, is devastating forests up and down the Lake Michigan coast. Foresters are racing to kill it before it creates wide swaths of destruction like that seen in the eastern United States.
In addition to a large section of the 200-acre Lake Harbor Park, which is owned by the city of Norton Shores in Muskegon County, the Muskegon Conservation District plans to treat hemlocks in several other areas.
Treatment will occur primarily in 2024 and include:
- Pioneer Park in Muskegon County’s Laketon Township.
- Nestrom Park in Fruitland Township. Treatment of trees there will be performed this summer.
- Meinert Park in Montague.
- Duck Creek Natural Area in Fruitland Township.
- Kitchel Lindquist Hartger Dunes Preserve in Ferrysburg.
- Evergreen, Restlawn and Oakwood cemeteries in Muskegon.
Paying for the work is a $250,000 Sustain Our Great Lakes grant the conservation district received from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, according to Kara Cronk, invasive species technician with the Muskegon Conservation District. Funding came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sustain Our Great Lakes Program and the Bezos Earth Fund for landscape scale conservation.
Related: Tiny pest threatening to decimate Michigan’s hemlock forests along Lake Michigan
The hemlock woolly adelgid has moved aggressively into West Michigan, literally sucking the life out of the majestic evergreens.
The tiny bugs aren’t very noticeable, but their egg sacs are especially visible in the spring. The tiny white, cottony balls cling to the needles of hemlocks.
Without treatment, death is all but certain within about five years for an infected tree.
Mapping by the State of Michigan shows considerable HWA infestation along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Muskegon County, including at P.J. Hoffmaster and Duck Lake state parks a well as in locations around White Lake.
Hoffmaster, which was heavily infested, has had thousands of trees treated since 2017, with the goal of treating them all.
HWA also is widespread along the coast in Allegan, Ottawa, Oceana and Mason counties.
Related: Save a tree through ‘Adopt-a-Hemlock’ effort in Grand Haven
At Lake Harbor Park, 115 acres in its north and middle regions, will be treated later this summer, Cronk told MLive/The Muskegon Chronicle in an email. In March, crews inspected trees and tagged 3,087 of them for treatment, she said.
“Because the infestation at Lake Harbor Park is in an advanced stage, not every hemlock is tagged for treatment,” Cronk said. “Only the hemlocks with enough crown density to be viable for treatment are considered.”
Trees at least 5 inches in diameter, and sporting metal tags, will be treated by drilling holes into their base and injecting chemicals into the holes, Cronk said.
Smaller trees, with plastic tags, will have pesticides sprayed on their bark, she said.
The city of Norton Shores also has begun treating HWA at Lake Harbor Park. The city council agreed to spend about $66,000 for treatment in 2022 and 2023.
Related: Hemlock trees dying at alarming rate to get more treatment at Lake Michigan park near Muskegon
Last fall, about 28 acres on the southern portion of the park near the Mona Lake Channel to Lake Michigan were treated. This fall, there are plans to treat another 39 acres.
It was the Forest Glen Condominium Association that alerted the city to the infestation after an arborist it hired found HWA there in 2020. Condo owners pooled their resources to have HWA treated on their trees.
Homeowners are encouraged to watch carefully for signs of HWA and seek appropriate treatment to help contain the spread.
The Muskegon Conservation District has a for-hire hemlock woolly adelgid treatment program for private landowners. Interested landowners can sign up for a quote at muskegoncd.org under projects and programs.
More information, including resources for homeowners, is available by clicking here.
Want more Muskegon area news? Bookmark the local Muskegon news page or sign up for the free “3@3 Muskegon” daily newsletter.
Also on MLive
Beloved anchor in Grand Haven not just for Coast Guard Fest anymore
Chemicals to kill sea lampreys to be applied on White River in West Michigan
$2M in Muskegon arena upgrades proposed by Lumberjacks hockey team
Photos: Historic coal-powered car ferry celebrates 70 years of service on Lake Michigan