About Matt DeJonge
Matt specializes in delivering education and outreach with WCCD's urban and community forestry initiatives. He also provides direct technical assistance to the community connecting inquiries with resources for one-on-one needs. Additionally Matt plans and coordinates community focused workshops and seminars with WCCD staff and other partner organizations. Read more about Matt's role in local conservation here.
Resources
Washtenaw County Conservation District
Michigan Invasive Species Program
Transcription
Rebekah Warren: This is 89.1 WEMU. Fall is one of the best times of year to appreciate Washtenaw County's trees. And it's also an important time to take a closer look at what's happening in our forests and neighborhoods because our local tree canopy is facing threats from a growing list of invasive insects and diseases. And there's some breaking news that makes this especially timely. The spotted lanternfly has now been confirmed in Washtenaw County. So, what does that mean for our trees? And what should residents be looking for this fall? I'm Rebekah Warren, and this is Issues of the Environment. Joining me today is Matt DeJonge, Community Forester with the Washtenaw County Conservation District. Matt, thank you for being here!
Matt DeJonge: Hi, Rebekah! It's great to be here! Thank you for having me!
Rebekah Warren: Matt, let's start with the news that many people are just hearing about. The spotted lanternfly has now been confirmed in Washtenaw County. What do we know about what's been found here, and what does it mean to say that a population has been confirmed?
Matt DeJonge: So, yeah, you bring up a great, timely issue. I think what it means is that a new invasive species has been identified. And it's been identified for the past couple of years in Southeast Michigan, primarily in Wayne County. But the incidence of sightings has really, really picked up in Wayne County. And, in my opinion, it unfortunately was a matter of time before spotted lanternfly was confirmed. And really what it means is that there was a confirmed sighting, and it was recorded through an invasive species tracker managed by MDARD, which is the Michigan Department of Ag and Rural Development. And that sighting was confirmed with a photo and a geolocation point. Sometimes, specialists are sent to confirm the sighting. It could be a biologist, either from CISMA, which stands for Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area, or someone with MDARD again. And these sightings, while unfortunate, they act as key thresholds for natural resource managers to take action.
Rebekah Warren: Matt, it sounds like we're entering a particularly important season for this particular insect. The adults are very active in late summer and early fall, and females will soon be laying those gray, putty-like egg masses that can look like old bits of chewing gum. Where should people be looking for those egg masses, and what are some of the places people might not think to check?
Matt DeJonge: That's a good point! The spotted lanternfly, its primary host is the tree of heaven, which is also an introduced species, but the tree of heaven has been around in Michigan for, I think, at least over a hundred years. And what you're looking for is what I would call a compound leaf. So, it's a leaf with many small leaflets alongside. It's really tough to explain a leaf over the air, but it's easily searchable on Google, and I recommend folks do that if they want to maybe look for tree of heaven in their yard. One of the other risks too is that spotted lanternfly can make its way on to like things that can be transported quite easily, so like, for instance, if you are moving some things via pallet, like with shipping, checking the wood on that pallet for these egg masses is always a good idea. And then, another thing, and really this has been a confirmed problem, is actually on large boulders or landscaping rocks where the spotted lanternfly females will lay their masses along those. If you do see one of these egg masses, the best practice is always to switch those egg masses in place and then report that via, I believe, it's the Michigan Invasive Species Network. There's a website for that reporting.
Rebekah Warren: This is 89.1 WEMU. I'm Rebekah Warren, and this is Issues of the Environment. Our guest today is Matt DeJonge, Community forester with the Washtenaw County Conservation District, and we're talking about invasive insects and tree diseases threatening Washtenaw County's forests and urban canopy, including the recent confirmation of the spotted lanternfly in our county. The spotted lanternfly isn't the only concern. Washtenaw County is already dealing with many other types of invasive species and tree diseases like beech leaf disease, hemlock, wooly, adelgid, jade, oak wilt, spongy moss, and birch bark disease. When you step back and look at all these threats together, how healthy is the overall tree canopy in Washtenaw County?
Matt DeJonge: I think the biggest takeaway from that list of tree diseases is that tree and canopy health is really a dynamic thing, and depending on the species, you could potentially be going through a wave of three health concerns. For example, the spongy moth tends to come and go in these 20 to 30-year cycles where the population of this caterpillar will really kind of dies back, and it's not a concern for many years. And then, as the population grows, it becomes this very big problem where the caterpillars will replicate almost in an exponential way, and they become very damaging for two to three years at a time until the population becomes infected with the bacteria, and it eventually dies back with this overshoot and collapse population-style event. But I think the the key takeaway here is that residents and landowners need to be constantly vigilant. And if you have any tree or health tree health concerns, you can always reach out to us at the Conservation District. What I like to do is get some photos of the specific tree or forest health and try to diagnose them and provide resources from there.
Rebekah Warren: Well, that's a great point, Matt! And I think for the average homeowner in Washtenaw County that may have any number of trees on their property, this list of tree diseases and invasives can sound a little overwhelming. So, you gave us one idea, but what other useful things can somebody do this fall to protect the trees that they already have? Is it inspection? Is it pruning? Is it removing invasive plants like the tree of heaven that you referenced? Avoiding moving firewood and allowing these pests to become hitchhikers to different properties? Where should people start?
Matt DeJonge: I think you listed a great number of things that people can do. One thing that is very common are fungal diseases with maples or sometimes oak. Those things can spread or they can overwinter in leaves that are left around the yard. While it may not always be the best for pollinators, raking leaves directly around a tree in the fall can interrupt those fungal cycles. So, if you want to avoid stressors for pretty common tree health concerns, raking leaves is one way and, again, some of the things you mentioned like not moving firewood or even removing tree of heaven. I think one of the ways that I've learned to do that is through either direct manual pulling of the tree or sometimes utilizing an herbicide to treat the tree and kill that tree is the best practice to avoid things.
Rebekah Warren: Matt, one of the first things that you talked about is the fact that those of us who are not scientists, who are arborists, who are professionals in this field, ordinary citizens can play an important role in monitoring and reporting these threats. And the Conservation District points people toward tools like TreeSnap and iNaturalist, as well as the state reporting systems that you've discussed. How valuable are those citizen observations to foresters and researchers like yourself?
Matt DeJonge: I think they're extremely valuable! I like to call it a crowdsourcing approach to reporting. And it's not always reporting just for invasive species. I think, sometimes, these tools can be utilized to track native plants or rare and threatened species as well. So, they're not only invaluable for recording populations of invasive species, but also for threatened or endangered species or just cool birds that maybe someone has seen. This crowdsourcing approach has really, I like to say, democratized access and increased the accessibility of tracking some of these things, which that data is really valuable and helping prevent the spread of really a lot of these tree pests and diseases.
Rebekah Warren: Matt, we've talked about several threats today, and there are also examples of communities successfully monitoring, managing, and sometimes even containing invasive species. What gives you optimism when you look at the future of Washtenaw County's forests?
Matt DeJonge: I'm seeing a lot of community-driven efforts towards outreach and education around environmental issues and a lot of like tree pest and disease problems as well. And that is such a powerful tool that professionals, like myself, we can really rely on these groups to do a lot on the outreach and the education for tree pests and diseases. And that's a really powerful thing. It just increases the level of reporting and tracking and really makes a lot of the success stories possible. So, I think that gives me hope. It's really the people that can make these things happen.
Rebekah Warren: Matt, thanks so much for helping us understand what's happening in our local forests and what all of us can do to help keep them healthy! Matt DeJonge is a community forester with the Washtenaw County Conservation District. For more information about our conversation today, please visit our website at WEMU.org. Issues of the environment is produced in partnership with the office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner and you hear it here every Wednesday. I'm Rebekah Warren, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on X (Twitter)
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
