Forest Hills Cemetery Says Pest Infestation to Blame for Widespread Tree Cutting

If you've walked in lately or driven along its Walk Hill Street border, you've likely seen wide swaths of trees cut down.

A cemetery official said the trees had to be cut down because of a pest infestation — the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid.

The devastation can clearly be seen along the historic garden cemetery's Walk Hill Street fence. Other sections of the cemetery where trees have been taken down include the area between the old and new sections of the cemetery.

Is the Arboretum in Danger?

The nearby confirms it has had trouble with the wooly adelgid since 1997, though the situation is under control.

"Yes, we have lost trees," said the Arboretum's Julie Warsowe in an email to Patch, "but we have used this unfortunate situation as a research opportunity to study the effects of [Hemlock Wooly Adelgid] infestations on forests."

The creature is an "exotic pest native to Asia" according to the Arboretum's Web site.

The pest gets its name from the white, "wooly" appearance infected hemlock needles take on.

The adelgid, which is about as big as a period in this text, kills hemlocks in three to ten years, sooner if the trees are stressed from drought. A National Park Service document says if no cure is found, the eastern hemlock could go extinct like the American elm and American chestnut.

Some JP Residents Are Skeptical

Some residents who have written to JP Patch about the tree felling in the cemetery expressed concern that the cutting is because the cemetery wants more land to install plots. However, a cemetery official who did not want to be named said the tree removals are because of the Wooly Adelgid. She said trees will be replanted in place of the ones that have been removed.