On October 24, 2002 Ken Sturm, Kelley Warren and Emily Grafton surveyed the balsam fir (Abies balsamea) stand in the NW comer of Big Cove to assess the level of infestation of the balsam wooly adelgid (BWA), Ade/ges piceae. BWA has probably infested all of the 20 stands of balsam fir on the 15,245 acre Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
The number of trees infected and the level of mortality appears to be somewhat variable in stands across the refuge, though further investigation needs to be done to accurately assess this. The survey was conducted using the protocols established by Ken Sturm, Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge biologist in the fall of 2000. Evidence of BWA was detected by closely inspecting the bark, twigs and branches of each tee examined for adelgid clusters or egg masses. Trees with detectable BWA infection were classified based on one of three levels of infestation: Light - one to five BWA observed Moderate - greater than five but less than 50 BWA detected Heavy-50 BWA or greater observed
