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SIGN UP TO BEGIN FOR THE 2007 GYPSY MOTH SUPPRESSION PROGRAM
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) and West Virginia University Cooperative Extension Service announced that landowners in Barbour, Berkeley, Braxton, Brooke, Doddridge, Gilmer, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Lewis, Marion, Marshall, Mineral, Monongalia, Morgan, Nicholas, Ohio, Pendleton, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Randolph, Ritchie, Taylor, Tyler, Tucker, Upshur, Webster, and Wetzel Counties may sign up for the 2007 Cooperative State-County-Landowner Gypsy Moth Suppression Program beginning July 1, 2006, at county extension offices.
Brochures answering questions about the gypsy moth and the 2007 gypsy moth suppression program, as well as egg mass survey applications, are available at WVDA offices at Elkins (304-637-0290), Inwood (304-229-5828), Morgantown (304-285-3133), Moorefield (304-538-2397), and New Creek (304-788-1066), as well as from your local county extension agent. Additionally, the WVDA Cooperative Gypsy Moth Program brochure and egg mass survey applications may be downloaded from the WVDA website (www.wvagriculture.org). A landowner living in one of the above counties that has a problem with gypsy moth may want to participate in the 2007 program. To sign up for an egg mass survey, contact the county extension agent in the county where your property is located and leave your name, address and phone number to obtain an egg mass survey application. The completed application must be submitted by August 31, 2006.
Landowners must provide a 7½-minute topographic map with boundaries clearly marked. The WVDA cannot map your property for you. Topographic maps are available from the United States Geologic Survey at 1-800-ASK-USGS or their website at http://store.usgs.gov.
The minimum acreage required to participate in the program is 50 contiguous acres of wooded land. If you have fewer than 50 acres, you may contact neighbors and join with them to meet the acreage requirement. Blocks must be made as rectangular as possible in order to be treated properly by aircraft without significant overspray. The presence of electrical transmission lines, communication towers, etc., may prohibit some spray blocks or portions of some spray blocks from being sprayed.
The 2006 landowner costs were $11.51 per acre for Btk and $8.58 per acre for Dimilin. However, like all other everyday costs, inflation has been driving these costs up, so 2007 costs may be higher. A 50 percent cost share on treatments may be available from the USDA Forest Service through a cooperative agreement with the WVDA. The total cost depends on the USDA Forest Service cost sharing, total acres proposed for treatment, and the cost of the insecticide and aerial application.
A final decision to participate in the program must be confirmed by signing a contract and making a deposit to the WVDA by December 6, 2006. A final payment to the WVDA will be required prior to actual treatment. Notification of the deadline for final payment will be by mail.
For more information, contact the WVDA Plant Industries Assistant Director S. Clark Haynes, at 304-558-2212 or Gypsy Moth Program Manager, Butch Sayers 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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