Workshop looks at invasive HWA management

Event is 6-7:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at Carriage House at Felt Estate.

Alex Miller, president of the West Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, installs a colony of beetles at Wolters Woods Park, 6281 147th Ave. in Laketown Township, on June 3, 2026.

The Ottawa Conservation District is leading a free workshop on how to apply integrated pest management principles to manage invasive hemlock woolly adelgid.

The event is 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, at the Carriage House at the Felt Estate, 6597 138th Ave.

The Carriage House at the Felt Estate, 6597 138th Ave.

This event is in-person, but there will also be a virtual attendance option. The Zoom link will be sent out to registrants prior to the event.

For more information or to register, click here.

Information will include HWA identification and life cycle, management techniques including chemical treatment, biocontrol, and forest thinning, and forest regeneration strategies.

Participants may be eligible to receive free tree cages and a property walk-through with a Forestry Assistance Program forester (available only to qualifying properties, supplies are limited).

The hemlock woolly adelgid pulls sap from hemlock needles, killing needles, shoots and branches. Infested trees become less vigorous and may turn grayish-green. The invasive can cause tree death in 4 to 10 years.

In Allegan County, a 2024 study showed more than 2,000 acres of infestation including Saugatuck Dunes State Park, and Laketown Township sites in Sanctuary Woods, 4750 66th St., Wolters Woods, and Huyser Farm, 4188 64th St.

In June, the West Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, a 501(c)3 organization, released beetles in groups of 100 on the branches of infected hemlocks as part of a regional project to fight HWA. The local release was funded by the Laketown Township Parks and Recreation Commission.