The Forestry Forum

Recently a buddy of mine called me asking if I had heard anything on the forum about yellow poplar trees in northern West Virginia dying.  Better location - he has a few acres on the Tygart Valley River not too far upriver from Grafton, WV.  He talks about looking up onto the mountain behind his house and seeing many of the poplars looking like what the gypsy moth did to the white oaks a few years back.  His biggest comment/concern is that they have had WAY too much rain.  He believes that yellow poplar don't like having their feet wet.  Where he is at in WV, they have had rain just about every day since the 1st of April.  Read that as mud everywhere.

Have any of you guys in northern WV or lower SW PA noticed any big loss of yellow poplar in your area?  If so, do you have any idea as to why and what can be done about it?

Bruce

It is the yellow poplar weavel,  should be gone by now.

HP is correct. It has hit here in Southwest Virginia. Saw a bulletin on it at the logyard. They eat holes in the leaves and don't really damage the tree except for a poor growth year. If they come back two or three years in a row then the trees will become weakened.

They gave a different common name and the scientific name on the bullentin. It was published by VA Tech or by the farm extension arm of it.