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GYPSY MOTH SUPPRESSION PROGRAM TO BEGIN
Aerial treatments to suppress gypsy moth populations in the state will cover more than 64,700 acres and will begin around the first week of May, depending on weather conditions and the progress of egg mass hatching and larval development, according to West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass.
The gypsy moth is the most destructive of West Virginia’s forest pests, each year defoliating tens of thousands of acres of West Virginia’s valuable hardwoods. The damage makes trees more susceptible to other pests and diseases, and can kill trees outright.
Residents should not be alarmed by low-flying airplanes in treatment areas, Commissioner Douglass added. Parts of Berkeley, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral, Monroe and Morgan counties are slated for treatments, which will likely operate out of Riverside Airpark, LLC, at Berkeley Springs, Cumberland Airport at Wiley Ford and Greenbrier Valley Airport near Lewisburg.
The program will treat 54,394 acres with Dimilin 4L and 10,381 acres with Bacillus thuringiensis var karstaki (Btk). Both chemicals are safe to humans and the environment and have been used for decades.
The Cooperative State-County-Landowner Program is a joint effort among the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (USDA-FS), the West Virginia Division of Forestry and landowners throughout the Mountain State.
To reach flight operations, call 304-813-9625 (Cumberland) or 304-552-6169 (Greenbrier Valley). For more information about gypsy moth programs, call Plant Industries’ Director Gary Gibson or Assistant Director Clark Haynes at 304-558-2212, or Program Manager Butch Sayers at 304-788-1066 (New Creek Office).
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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