Hemlocks are the fourth most common tree in the state and a foundation species in New York’s forests. Their conservation is paramount to maintaining the our forests’ health. Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) threatens the health of hemlocks in the state, and can be managed by landowners through treatment of hemlocks. Since hemlocks are so common in New York, many landowners will have hard decisions to make about which trees to conserve. We cannot save every hemlock in the forest, so prioritizing management efforts is vital to preserve the values and ecosystem services that hemlocks provide.

Prioritizating hemlock stands helps landowners make these decisions by clarifying their hemlocks’ conservation values. Hemlocks may provide aquatic ecosystem services by keeping trout streams cool and stabilizing stream flow, or grow near trails or buildings where they will become hazards as they die, or create habitat for a rare species. How do you choose which hemlocks to preserve?

We developed our toolkits to help landowners think through the values and ecosystem services that hemlocks provide on their property. We built two tools, one for landowners who manage a single property, and a regional one for land managers who need to weigh the needs of several properties across a landscape (like a land trust, PRISM, or municipality).

Whatever values you wish to conserve, our tools can help compare and score multiple hemlock stands to optimize your management efforts.

Sign up here if you want us to reach out to you for support on your prioritization process.

Hemlock Prioritization Values

There are several different aspects of a given hemlock stand that you may consider while planning management. What is important to you?