Gypsy Moth
Spraying to Continue HARRISBURG
- Counties enrolled in the state’s gypsy moth suppression
program can expect price relief for spraying to combat the
woodland insect pest population that shows signs of rebounding
after a virtual collapse in recent years, said Governor Edward
G. Rendell Monday.
“We will be able to provide a substantial per-acre refund to the participating counties now that uncertainties linked to federal funds have been resolved,” Governor Rendell said. “I contacted then-Sen. Rick Santorum about this issue in July, and we encouraged Pennsylvania residents and their local officials to reach out to their representatives in Washington as well. Our voices were heard.”
Forest insect spray programs are a cooperative effort among the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Bureau of Forestry, county and municipal governments, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s Forest Health Protection Unit. County and municipal governments share the cost of treating private residential and local government-owned lands for gypsy moth suppression.
Eleven counties participating in the spray program this spring will see their up-front costs reduced from $25 per acre, set last September, to just under $12 per acre, the Governor said.
“Once federal funds were allocated, in whatever amount, the commonwealth was committed to refunding the difference to the counties, and lowering their final per-acre cost,” Governor Rendell said. “Pennsylvania has recently learned our federal funding for the county cost-share program will be eight times higher than was indicated last fall, or $821,596.”
The spray program will begin this week and continue for approximately four weeks. Eleven counties enrolled 35,919 acres in this year’s program. Participating are: Blair, Bedford, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Lackawanna, Lebanon, Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties.
Statewide, a total of 64,904 acres will be treated using two types of biological insecticides: Bacillus thuringiensis and Gypchek, a naturally occurring virus specific to gypsy moth larvae. No chemical insecticides are used for treatment. In addition to the counties listed above, state land in Centre, Clinton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Luzerne, Mifflin, Somerset, and Union counties also will be treated.
Two fixed-wing aircraft and four helicopters will be applying the insecticides beginning at daybreak. The two fixed-wing aircraft only will be working in the Pocono region of the state. The helicopters will be working in both the Pocono and central and southcentral portions of the commonwealth.
“Spray areas in state forested land were selected based on the number and concentration of gypsy moth egg masses, previous defoliation, and ecological, historic, or economic significance,” said DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis. “We have seen three consecutive years of defoliation by gypsy moth larvae in the northeast, as well as the north- and south-central regions of the state.”
DCNR opted not to undertake aerial spraying in 2003, 2004 and 2005 because of sharply declining gypsy moth populations, during which a naturally occurring fungus proved deadly to the insect that defoliates certain hardwoods. In spring 2002 — at a cost of nearly $1.5 million for insecticide and aerial application — DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry oversaw gypsy moth spraying operations targeting 58,641 acres in 18 counties. In 2000, 101,101 acres were sprayed in 24 counties.
“Spraying helps contain the widespread gypsy moth damage we have seen in the past, but the major controlling factor is, and will continue to be, the prevalence of a fungus in our woodlands,” said DiBerardinis. “Insect populations have been significantly down for several years in most areas of the state thanks largely to the gypsy moth’s natural enemy — Entomophaga maimaiga.”
Gypsy moth populations had been dropping sharply until spring 2006 when 700,000 acres of woodlands were defoliated as DCNR treated 82,000 acres in eight counties. During spring 2002, 55,798 acres of Pennsylvania forestland were defoliated by the gypsy moth. That was a 76-percent reduction in defoliation from 2001’s total of 237,559 acres. In 2000, gypsy moth defoliation affected 837,600 acres.
“With an eye toward next spring, we will, of course, continue monitoring the situation in our woodlands, working closely with county officials, and conducting our annual egg-mass counts from mid-summer into fall,” said DiBerardinis. “Egg masses make it fairly easy to predict what next spring will bring.”
Throughout the expected four-week long 2007 Cooperative Gypsy Moth Suppression Project, daily updates of spray progress can be viewed at www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/leaflets/fpmnews.htm.
Forestry bureau experts identify the gypsy moth as one of the most destructive forest pests in Pennsylvania. Feeding while in the larval – or caterpillar – stage, gypsy moth caterpillars hatch and begin feeding from mid- to late-April in southern Pennsylvania and in early- to mid-May in the northern part of the state. Oak, sugar maple, beech and aspen trees are most affected by the forest pest.
When populations peak, the insects may strip trees of their leaves, leaving them weakened and susceptible to disease, drought and attack by other insects. A tree begins to suffer when 30 percent or more of its leaf surface is lost.
The gypsy moth was introduced to North America in 1869 at Medford, Mass., where it was used in a silk-production experiment. The gypsy moth first reached Pennsylvania in Luzerne County in 1932 and has infested every county since then.
For more information on insect pests and other forestry topics, visit DCNR’S Web site:
www.dcnr.state.pa.us (click on “State Forests”).
