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Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass recently announced
that the West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s Plant Industries
Division (WVDA-PID) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service (USDA-FS) will treat 4,400 acres of federal, state and private
lands in Raleigh, Summers and Mercer counties for low-level gypsy
moth infestations beginning May 10, if weather allows flights and
if the foliage has sufficiently expanded in the treatment areas.
“I’m certain that a lot of people become concerned about
the planes they see flying low over southern West Virginia when
these projects are conducted,” said Commissioner Douglass.
“What they are seeing is a safe, cost-efficient technology
at work – technology that protects the Mountain State’s
valuable forest resources from a very destructive pest.”
Also under the Slow The Spread (STS) Program, a fifth block of 10,000
acres in Raleigh and Summers counties will be treated around June
23 with pheromone flakes that work to disrupt gypsy moth mating.
The tiny flakes are aerially applied by agricultural spray planes.
The program will operate out of the Raleigh County Airport at Beckley.
The STS Program began in 1993 as a pilot project to demonstrate
that the gypsy moth spread rate could be reduced in a cost-effective
manner. In 2000, STS became a formal program with eight states from
North Carolina to Wisconsin participating. A variety of techniques
are used to manage isolated gypsy moth populations in the transition
zone between the generally infested area and the area where no detectible
populations can be found. Most of southern West Virginia falls in
the STS Program area.
For more information on the STS Gypsy Moth Treatment Program, call
PID Director Dr. Charles Coffman at 304-558-2212, program coordinator
Butch Sayers at 304-788-1066 or 304-552-8565, WVDA Communications
Officer Buddy Davidson at 304-558-3708, or visit the WVDA website
at www.wvagriculture.org.
Contact: Buddy Davidson
Communications Officer
304/558-3708, 361-9484 (pager)
bdavidson@ag.state.wv.us
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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