6-22-2005 |
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2005 GYPSY MOTH SLOW THE SPREAD (STS) PHEROMONE FLAKE PROJECT TO BEGIN Agriculture Commissioner Gus R. Douglass recently announced that the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (USDA-FS) will be treating 11,975 acres of state and private lands in West Virginia for low level gypsy moth infestations. The land proposed for treatment occurs in four blocks in Raleigh, Summers, Mercer and Wyoming Counties. Treatment will consist of pheromone flakes aerially applied by agricultural spray planes. The tiny flakes (1/32" X 3/32") are impregnated with a pheromone that is a sex attractant for male gypsy moths. The sex attractant is specific for the gypsy moth and affects no other insects. Pheromone flakes act to disrupt gypsy moth mating by confusing the male gypsy moths. This results in a reduction in the spread rate of the insect. The pheromone flake project will likely operate out of the Mercer County Airport at Bluefield, West Virginia or the Raleigh County Airport at Beckley. It is anticipated that the project will begin around June 27 and should be completed in two or three days depending on the weather. The contact phone number for this operation will be 304/552-8565. Public notifications, environmental assessments, biological evaluations, work and safety plans, and decision notices have all been completed for this project, which is a cooperative effort with the USDA-FS, West Virginia University Cooperative Extension Service, West Virginia Division of Forestry and landowners to protect the state's forest resources. Commissioner Douglass stated that "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. Minnesota joined the program in 2004. 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 within the STS Program area. For more information on the STS Gypsy Moth Treatment Program, you may contact Gary Gibson, Director, or S. Clark Haynes, Assistant Director, of the Plant Industries Division in Charleston at 304-558-2212 or Butch Sayers, Gypsy Moth Program Manager, in New Creek at 304-788-1066.
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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