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MORE THAN 77,000 ACRES IN WEST VIRGINIA DEFOLIATED BY GYPSY MOTH CATERPILLARS
Agriculture Commissioner Gus R. Douglass has announced that 77,904 acres of state, federal and private forestland were defoliated by the gypsy moth in West Virginia during May and June, a significant increase over the 17,272 acres defoliated in 2006. Defoliation was recorded in 10 counties. A breakdown of acres defoliated by county and severity appears in the chart below.
According to West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s (WVDA) Plant Industries Assistant Director Clark Haynes there has been an increase in the gypsy moth population over the past couple of years. This can be attributed to relatively dry conditions in May 2006 and 2007 that were not conducive to the development of a fungus that had been responsible for collapse of the gypsy moth population in 2003 and 2004.
Commissioner Douglass reminded landowners that sign up for the 2008 Cooperative State/County Landowner Program, for aerial gypsy moth suppression, is underway until the end of August. Landowners are asked to contact their county extension agent and sign up as soon as possible if they want their property considered for treatment in 2008.
For more information, contact the WVDA Plant Industries Division, Forest Health Protection Unit at 304-558-2212, or its field offices at New Creek, 304-788-1066 or Elkins, 304-637-0290.
WVDA 2007 GYPSY MOTH DEFOLIATION |
COUNTY |
ACRES HEAVY |
ACRES LIGHT |
ACRES TOTAL |
BERKELEY |
3,931000 |
2,1730000 |
6,1040000 |
GRANT |
2,0010000 |
3,7340000 |
5,7350000 |
HAMPSHIRE |
5,6340000 |
7,3030000 |
12,9370000 |
HARDY |
3,7570000 |
4,3850000 |
8,1420000 |
JEFFERSON |
8540000 |
7290000 |
1,5830000 |
MINERAL |
7,9720000 |
6,8550000 |
14,8270000 |
MORGAN |
5,3020000 |
3,2680000 |
8,5700000 |
MONROE |
9,1930000 |
1,8600000 |
11,0350000 |
GREENBRIER |
4,2750000 |
4,2870000 |
8,5700000 |
POCAHONTAS |
1670000 |
2270000 |
4010000 |
Total |
43,0850000 |
34,8200000 |
77,9040000 |
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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