Hemlockfest 2006 (Nov. 3 & 4, 2006)

A plea for sponsorship!

The Hemlock trees are being decimated by the hemlock woolly adelgid, an aphid like species. We need your help to raise awareness and funds to support a beetle raising lab at UGA. The beetles feed on the adelgids and are the Hemlocks best hope.

Please take a couple of minutes to read over the fact sheet I have included. Unfortunately devastating change is inevitable, but near extinction of what many consider to be the most environmentally impacting tree of our mountain stream areas is what we can prevent.

The Lumpkin Coalition is facilitating the second annual Hemlockfest in North Georgia (just a few miles from Dahlonega) on November 3 and 4 (two days of music and fun, two nights of camping). We are a 100% volunteer non-profit (501c3) organization working hard on this time sensitive issue. Any contribution you make is fully tax deductible. We are in the midst of securing a matching grant (up to $75,000) from the Turner foundation and are currently $35,000 short of first year funding of the lab. Our efforts last year largely contributed to the successful establishment of the UGA beetle rearing laboratory. Please consider helping us in our efforts to help the Hemlocks (sponsorship levels and benefits are on following page).

So the Hemlocks may live...

Forest Hilyer

Chairman, The Lumpkin Coalition

(706) 265-5282 or www.lumpkincoalition.org