3-23-2004 |
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ENACTS QUARANTINE TO PREVENT CALIFORNIA OAK DISEASE Personnel from the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) and West Virginia Division of Forestry (DOF) will be visiting state nursery dealerships to sample suspect stock from California. Nurserymen, nursery dealers and Christmas tree growers should refuse to accept any new deliveries of stock from California until further notice. “Although quarantine is a drastic step, I feel it is necessary to protect West Virginia’s extremely valuable oak trees,” said Commissioner Douglass. “Oak trees are the predominant species in three-quarters of West Virginia’s forested lands, and oaks are some of the most valuable hardwoods growing in the Mountain State. We simply must do all we can to protect this resource.” The disease – a type of fungus that causes cankers on the trees and can kill within two to three years –was originally thought to be contained to a 10-county area in California, but was recently discovered at two major nurseries outside that area that provide stock for nurseries nationwide. “SOD has caused extensive oak mortality in California and we fear that it could have a similar effect on the species found in West Virginia,” said Dr. Charles Coffman, Director of WVDA’s Plant Industries Division (WVDA-PID). “Many people remember the Chestnut blight that wiped out the American chestnut in the 1930s. We certainly don’t want to see that happen to our oaks if we have a chance to prevent it.” WVDA-PID is beginning its second year of SOD cooperative surveys with USDA-Forest Service and USDA-APHIS-PPQ. To date, the disease has not been detected in West Virginia. Contact: Buddy Davidson The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org. |
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