Pine Beetle-Ravaged Trees Pose Risk in West Chop

Gwyn Skiles |

The trails in the West Chop Woods have been temporarily closed due to concerns that an infestation of beetles has left the trees there too brittle to stand. 

The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, which owns the 90-acre woods in Vineyard Haven, announced the closure on Dec. 24 after the trees there had been decimated by the invasive southern pine beetle. The nonprofit plans to cut down trees that have been affected, but there is no clear timeline for reopening.

West Chop
Sheriff's Meadow Foundation
Beetles
 

 

 
Tom Alyssa

Arboretum Guards Against Nasty Beetle Loose on Mainland Wood

Peter Brannen

Meet the beetles. The invasive exotic ones, that is. There is the goldenhaired bark beetle, the six-tooth bark beetle, the Mediterranean pine engraver beetle and the most dreaded of them all: the Asian long-horned beetle, which arrived on American shores a decade ago the way many foreign threats do, hiding in wood pallets.

At the Polly Hill Arboretum, collections and grounds manager Tom Clark and collections management intern Alyssa Janilla have been on guard for the unwelcome arrival of the voracious bugs by participating in a USDA monitoring program.

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Beetle Mania

Suzan Bellincampi

“And now, here they are: the beetles!” (Insert soundtrack of hysterical screams.)

Don’t faint, and don’t expect to see Paul, Ringo, George, and John — the beetles that I am talking about are the ones you would have had a much better chance of seeing in the past few weeks.

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