In 2021, Connestee Falls volunteers, known as the "Hemlock Friends" and led by resident Lisa Smith, teamed up to help save Connestee's hemlock trees from the threat of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA). The Hemlock Friends volunteers received training and guidance from the local non-profit, the Hemlock Restoration Initiative (HRI). Over the next 3 years, Hemlock Friends volunteers treated over 2,000 CF hemlocks. Treatment and protection of our hemlocks is an ongoing process with re-treatment needed every 5 years.