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The Waterman Center

This Giving Tuesday, the Waterman Center needs your help protecting our old growth Hemlock forests at the IBM Glen! Hemlocks have already been devastated by the invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) in Pennsylvania and New York.  To preserve our ecosystems and safeguard the hemlock species, every 5 years the Waterman Center treats hemlocks at the IBM Glen to protect them from HWA. This effort is critical to save enough of these ecologically important trees. This year our goal is $5,000 to treat approx. 500 trees.

The Waterman Center has been dedicated to saving our hemlocks since HWA was first found at the IBM Glen in 2014. We have successfully treated 450 trees in 2015 and 490 trees in 2020. HWA can reproduce incredibly quickly and will roar back to high levels if conditions permit. We hope to continue our treatments in 2025!

Hemlock trees are the third most common tree in New York State and are considered both a foundation and a climax species. Hemlock forests create unique soil and water conditions forming the basic structure of an ecosystem. Additionally, they are very slow growing and shade-tolerant, taking a long time to reach the canopy and dominate the forest. Large hemlock groves are typically very old and a sign of a mature and productive forest. This makes hemlocks irreplaceable in forest environments. The oldest hemlocks at the glen could be 200-400 years old!