Cary preserve to close while trees are treated

Asheville, N.C. — The Town of Cary announced a plan Thursday to close Stevens Nature Center and the Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve for a week to deal with a pest.

The preserve, off Kildaire Farms Road, will be closed from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3 for the first of a multi-step process to rid the Hemlock trees there of the Woolly Adelgid.

The Woolly Adelgid, an exotic, aphid-like insect, accidentally brought over from Japan, first appeared in the northwest and northeast U.S. During the past two decades, it has found its way to North Carolina and the inviting Southern climate.

Experts suspect that birds carried it to the trees in Cary. The bugs have been detected on 11 of the Preserve’s 235 Eastern Hemlock trees to date.

Next week, the town will employ Bartlett Tree Experts for “bark painting” in which treatment is applied directly to the trees. The product is harmless to healthy trees.

“With the support and advice of state and federal organizations, we feel confident in our choice of the bark painting treatment and are eager to begin the process,” said Doug McRainey, Town of Cary parks planning manager.