MARYLAND—State and federal partners are fighting back against the damaging spotted lanternfly at Fair Hill Natural Resource Management Area with a far-sighted approach—one that will not just reduce numbers of this invasive insect, but will also study how these treatments impact other plant and insect species in the targeted areas.

USDA Forest Service funding provided through the Forest Health Protection Cooperative Lands program supports treatments focused on busy recreation sites where both high lanternfly activity and tree-of-heaven stands are found. Spotted lanternfly are strongly attracted to the invasive tree-of-heaven (both species originated from the same region of Asia), but they also feed on maple, walnut, willow and other tree species.

Located in the northeast corner of Maryland, Fair Hill is a popular recreation destination renowned for the beauty of its 5,656 acres of fields and woodlands. Once among the largest private land holdings in the eastern U.S., Fair Hill was purchased by the state of Maryland in 1975 from the former owner’s estate.

When the spotted lanternfly was first detected there in 2018, USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, in cooperation with Fair Hill, conducted treatments to control the pest. So far, Maryland Department of Natural Resources has treated trees in high-use areas such as trailheads and parking areas.

Now, in areas where high use intersects with high lanternfly activity and stands of tree-of-heaven, the Forest Service will help support treatment with basal insecticide spray to suppress spotted lanternfly in high-value trees as well as herbicide on tree-of-heaven.

At the same time, the treatment’s larger impact will be studied through the establishment of “paired plots”—one to be treated, one left untreated—on these targeted Fair Hill areas.

Before treatment, data was collected to describe the spotted lanternfly population and dominant plant species of overstory and understory, along with the dominant invasive plant species for each block. Post-treatment monitoring will track the impacts of herbicide and insecticide treatments between the paired plots on vegetation and lanternfly populations.

Monitoring will also track what plant replace those eliminated by the treatment and gather information on whether successful treatment of one set of invasive species results in another complex of different invasive species.

Ultimately, the goal of the paired plots and post-treatment monitoring is to help determine the best management practices for spotted lanternfly in the future.