KEENE VALLEY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program is getting set for its annual seminar on what it knows best: The impact of invasive animal and plant species in the Adirondacks. Blue Mountain Lake is the meeting place for the Invasive Species at Our Door: Adirondack Invasive Species Summit.

Starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, the summit will spend a full day looking at the impact of invasive, non-native plants found in the Adirondack Park. Two particular species are the focus of this year’s seminar. One is hemlock woolly adelgid, which preys on hemlock branches and causes die-off; and the other is hydrilla, which grows in shallow water, blocking sunlight from reaching native plants growing below a water body’s surface.

The panel will be held at the Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, 9097 Route 30 in Blue Mountain Lake, and is free to the public. Guests and panelists at this year’s event include Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist David Orwig; Cary Institute of Ecosystem Sciences scientist Gary Lovett; and Cornell University New York State Hemlock Initiative Director Mark Whitmore. Panels will include the impact that the hemlock woolly adelgid has brought to ecosystems; the effects of carbon sequestration; and how to manage hemlock trees to give the vital tree a brighter future.

Meg Modley of the Lake Champlain Basin Program will lead the other half of the conversation, introducing the harmful effects of hydrilla growth in the Adirondacks. She will be joined by Dr. Susan Wilde of the University of Georgia; Adirondack Watershed Institute Stewardship Director Bill Brosseau; and the Army Corps of Engineers, to talk about hydrilla management and prevention programs.

Seats for the summit are limited. Those interested in being part of the invasive plant conversation can do so by registering in advance.