Frank Varvoutis

Frank standing outside in front of a hemlock tree. Frank is saving our hemlocks one tree at a time by treating them for Woolly Adelgid.

Making a Difference One Tree at a Time

If the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is not stopped, the area’s lush woods could become much less full and attractive. Frank Varvoutis, 2004 Haywood Community College Forestry graduate, is doing all he can to stop this persistent pest. “If the hemlocks are gone, it would change the entire ecology of our environment,” he explains. “About 99 percent of the wood thrush nest in hemlocks. They are also cover and protection for wildlife and provide shade for wide areas.”

Varvoutis started his own business, Hemlock Healers, Inc, over three years ago. “Many hemlocks around here are hundreds of years old. They need to be saved and preserved,” he said.

Varvoutis says the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid settles at the base of the needles and sucks the sap and nutrients out of the trees. He treats the affected trees by inserting an insecticide, the same one used to treat fleas and ticks, at the roots.

But where did the Adelgid originally come from and how does it spread? According to Varvoutis, the pest came from Asia and was first found in the United States in the 1920s on the West Coast. Traveling about 20 miles per year, the insect finally made its way to our beautiful mountains via the wind, people, and other mammals.

Varvoutis is a certified arborist who performs all around tree care including removal and plant and pest control. While he treated four summer camps last year for the adelgid, about 85 percent of his work is residential. He covers a wide area from Tipton Creek and Saluda to Marion and Spruce Pine.

Recently, Varvoutis has made a bigger impact on his fight against the Adelgid. He was awarded a contract for work with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to treat hemlocks. He works in 11 different areas but mostly in the Cataloochee area. His day begins early, when he puts his backpack on his back and heads into the back country areas of the park service.

Varvoutis was awarded the contract through the North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC). This organization is a collaborative effort between North Carolina business and industry and the North Carolina Community College System. One of the goals of the NCMBC is to increase military business for existing North Carolina companies.

But Varvoutis’ history with the park service didn’t begin with the awarding of this contract. He worked for the park service while getting his own business off the ground. He soon found the long hours and hard work was too much to handle and decided to concentrate on his new business.

Varvoutis is originally from Topsail Island, North Carolina. He came to this area to camp and race mountain bikes and decided this is where he wanted to live. After 10 years in the funeral business, he knew that to make a career change, he would have to return to school. He chose HCC.

“Before I came to HCC, I didn’t know the difference in a hemlock or a spruce. I can’t say enough about this program and these instructors. It’s the best in the country, better than a lot of four year programs.”

Now after finishing the program at HCC, Varvoutis is pursuing what he says is everyone’s dream, to be your own boss. And through what he admits is an ongoing process, he’s making a difference one tree at a time.

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