CLEVELAND, Ohio — Tree farmers and many farmers in northeastern Ohio have asked for help - and forestry experts have heard their call.

Geauga County, which is not too far from the Pennsylvania border, is on high alert for invasive forest pests. Farmers with crops of corn, beans or soybeans are in the clear but those growing cherry, apple and pine trees are highly vulnerable to many damaging insects.

For this reason the Gaeuga Park District’s Big Creek Park will host a workshop to help farmers and tree producers learn how to spot and manage invasive forest pests such as the emerald ash borer and other damaging pests.

The clinic will be held on July 23 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the park’s Donald W. Meyer Center in Chardon.

"Included will be details on a new threat, the spotted lanternfly, which has been found in Pennsylvania," said Kathy Smith, a workshop instructor and the program’s director. "It attacks, among others, the cherry, apply and pine trees."

Leading the workshop will be forestry experts from the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.

"Non-native insects like the Asian longhorned beetle and hemlock woolly adelgid have spread into Ohio and can hurt and kill certain trees," Smith said. "And that can harm forests that shelter wildlife, support recreation and help keep streams and rivers clean."

According to Smith, the pests can ruin valuable timber, costing farmers, cities and homeowners money by having to cut down and replace dead trees. "The workshop’s main goal is to help people prevent or limit that damage," she said.

Also among the topics covered will be the gypsy moth, the viburnum leaf beetle, the insect-carried thousand cankers disease of walnuts, and what one should do if you find these and any other invasive pests.

A final session in the park’s woods will show some of the bugs’ damage firsthand.

Registration is $35 and includes lunch. Online registration and payment are available at go.osu.edu/ July23ForestHealth

Payment, along with name and address, can be forwarded to Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, 210 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus OH 43210. Include the workshop’s name, Forest Health: Invasive Insects.

For more information, call 614-688-3421 or email ohiowoods@osu.edu

The park’s Donald W. Meyer Center is located at 9160 Robinson Road in Chardon.