We’re excited to share two connected winter opportunities to get outside and support forest conservation: 

1. Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) Survey
BVA is supporting the Otsego County Conservation Association (OCCA) in its county-wide Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) survey. Some of you remember when BVA helped survey HWA a few years ago. For those who need a refresher on how to spot HWA, here’s more information.

2. Winter Otsego Octet Challenge — Team BVA
We’re also forming “Team BVA” for the Winter Octet Challenge through Otsego Outdoors. The fun part: credits count collectively—so if you complete one trail and someone else completes another, Team BVA earns both.

We plan to combine the two whenever possible by doing HWA surveys at locations that also count toward Winter Octet credits, including Copes Corner, Jacob Morris State Forest, Gilbert Lake State Park, and Texas Schoolhouse State Forest.

BVA trail leads Ed Lentz and Peter Martin are planning to head to the following next weekend:

• Saturday, Feb. 14: Morris State Forest, 9:30 a.m., email edlentz@mac.com to rsvp. We will meet at the intersection of Pittsley/Harris Hill and Dimmock Hollow (42.53229, -75.29374).

• Sunday, Feb. 15: Texas Schoolhouse State Forest, 9:30 a.m., email edlentz@mac.com to rsvp. We will meet at the trailhead parking area on Jones Road in New Lisbon (42.6564, -75.1115). 

Save the date: OCCA’s larger group survey day is Feb. 28 at 10 a.m. at Gilbert Lake State Park, with warm drinks and snacks afterward. You can sign up here.