Hemlock trees in eastern forests are late successional tree species that provide shade for the forest understory. Globally, there are ten hemlock species, with populations located in Asia and eastern and western North America12. Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana) grow in the eastern U.S. These trees have great ecological and cultural value in forests. However, the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae or HWA) is decimating hemlock populations throughout much of the trees’ native range, altering landscapes, and threatening these iconic tree species in both rural and urban areas.

The Federal Clean Water Act, Section 404, exempts normal, established, ongoing silvicultural activities from the permitting process for discharges of dredged or fill material in jurisdictional wetlands; provided that 15 federal mandates are complied with.

This crossing:
• Crossing Purpose: To access timber for harvesting
• Alternatives: Other side would have required crossing another stream and building a new road
• Primary objective of State Forest: Timber Production
• Management Plan: Harvest timber and then reforest