The hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive aphid-like species accidentally imported to Virginia on nursery stock around 1951, feeds at the base of hemlock needles on nutrients critical to the trees’ survival. By the 1980's it had spread as far north as Massachusetts, devastating hemlock populations, and after first being observed in North Carolina in 1995, major adelgid-induced hemlock mortality was evident by the early 2000's. One adelgid can produce about 300 eggs in a six-month life cycle, and with two generations in one year, a single adelgid could be responsible for 90,000 offspring that reduce nutrients available to the tree and weaken local hemlocks. Because the hemlock is an irreplaceable keystone species in Montreat and the Blue Ridge ecosystem, efforts to control adelgids have included chemical treatments and the release of Laricobius nigrinus beetles, tiny insects native to the Western United States that feed on all life stages of the adelgid. These beetles could consume up to 90% of the adelgids and may become a sustainable control in Montreat, allowing hemlocks to survive in good health. In North Carolina, once a stable Laricobius population is established, it can spread at about two miles per year, and after beetles were imported to the Grandfather Golf and Country Club in Linville in 2008 from the Pacific Northwest, the golf course came to have healthy hemlocks that no longer required chemical treatment. In Montreat, landowners had treated hemlocks chemically for many years before a biological control plan began in 2015 with the release of approximately 2,000 Laricobius beetles in Montreat Cove, followed by additional releases in 2016 and funding from local gifts and government grants to help preserve hemlocks for future generations.