Research

Scope and Content Note

This series documents efforts by the Department of Environmental Conservation and its predecessor agencies to observe, record, and eradicate insect infestations, diseases, and other environmental conditions that threaten forest plant life. The series includes correspondence between State agency officials and federal officials, private companies, private citizens, and scientists. Also included are copies of monthly "New York Forest Pest" reports, known earlier as "Insect and Disease" reports. Additional records include memoranda, newspaper clippings, copies of scientific journal articles and other published reports, scientific data in the form of charts, and topographic maps containing plotted data.

A significant component of the files are field report forms compiled by agency staff. These include "Forest Disease and Insect" reports, frequently accompanied by "Forest Pest Location" maps, and "New York Pest Conditions Forest Health" worksheets. The "Forest Disease and Insect" reports are the most prevalent and contain the following data: problem (including common name), host species, date of observation, region, county, reporter(s), acres affected and level of damage (light, moderate, or severe), trend, regional mortality loss estimate, and control projects or methods. Examples of environmental problems documented in the files include: butternut canker, forest tent caterpillar, European spruce sawfly, white pine weevil, beech bark disease, gypsy moth, balsam canker, white pine blister rust, drought wind damage, and winter ice damage.