The Outreach Committee of the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust (ASLPT) will host “Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) – Strategies for Landowners” starting at 6:30 PM on Thursday, February 4, at the Wilmot Community Association’s Red Barn at 64 Village Road in Wilmot. If schools are closed on February 4 because of inclement weather, the program will be rescheduled for Thursday, February 11.

Dode Gladders, field specialist in natural resources for the UNH Sullivan County Cooperative Extension Office, will give an illustrated overview about EAB, the most destructive forest pest in the United States today.

In 2013 it was discovered in Concord. Since then, EAB has been detected in more than 12 towns in Belknap, Hillsborough, Merrimack, and Rockingham counties.

Gladders will address all aspects of this complex issue, including the biology and spread of the pest, what to look for to determine whether EAB is present in your town, and what to expect in the future. He will review current management recommendations for woodlot owners and homeowners with ash trees in their yards.

Topics also will include EAB biology and life cycle; where it came from and how it spreads; how to identify an ash tree; signs, symptoms, and survey techniques; management efforts under way in New Hampshire; and what to do if you think you have an EAB infestation.

ASLPT, established in 1987, is a non-profit land trust that works to preserve the rural landscape in 12 towns in the Mount Kearsarge/Lake Sunapee region. These towns include Andover, Bradford, Danbury, Grantham, Goshen, Newbury, New London, Springfield, Sunapee, Sutton, Wilmot, and Warner.

Refreshments will be served.

Registration is requested by February 1 for this free workshop and is available from Kristy Heath at the ASLPT office at 526-6555 or by e-mail at KHeath@nullAusbonSargent.org. More information about ASLPT is available at AusbonSargent.org.