Attack On Gypsy Moths Begins

Ashland Begins Spraying

Agriculture officials have spotted only one Asian gypsy
moth in Portland's Forest Park, but they say that's
enough to warrant use of the insecticide, which contains
undisclosed "inert" ingredients. 

[ They are spraying BTK and still refuse to disclose "inerts".  This is more junk science and profits before people ]

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Forest Park May Face Pest Problem

Insecticide Spraying Debated

PORTLAND, 10:17 a.m. PDT April 13, 2001 -- A plan to blanket the country's largest urban park with gypsy moth-killing insecticide is meeting with opposition from local groups concerned that other moths and butterflies would be put at risk.

Agriculture officials have spotted only one Asian gypsy moth in Portland's Forest Park, but they say that's enough to warrant use of the insecticide, which contains undisclosed "inert" ingredients.

"We don't want the Asian gypsy moth getting started here, either, but we also don't want them going overboard with a big spraying program when it may not be necessary," Sharon Genasci of the Northwest District Association's Health and Environment Committee said.

Asian gypsy moths are more aggressive than a related European species that has populated the eastern United States. Both species devour foliage and can strip trees of their leaves, killing them. The Asian moths are said to be a bigger danger because the females can fly as much as 20 miles farther to lay their eggs and because the caterpillars chop through evergreen needles as well as broadleaf trees and shrubs.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that Asian gypsy moths would cost the Northwest more than $3.5 billion in lost timber and tourism revenues if they took hold.

The moth caught in a monitoring trap last fall is the first of its species to appear in Oregon since 1991, when the state sprayed 8,000 acres in North Portland to eradicate it the following year, Kathleen Johnson of the Oregon Department of Agriculture said.

The moth probably emerged from an egg mass imported from Russia or Korea on a ship that docked in nearby Portland Harbor, she said.

Egg masses can contain nearly 1,000 eggs, and the aerial spraying is intended to kill other moths that may have arrived at the same time, Johnson said.

Helicopters would spray the biological agent BTK, a natural soil bacterium that kills the caterpillar form of most moths and butterflies but nothing else, three times in late April and early May. Each application would be one to two weeks apart, depending on weather.

The spraying would cover a square area from the Willamette River waterfront just south of the St. Johns Bridge extending west into Forest Park.

The 910-acre area includes about 30 residences, 13 businesses and 12 industrial properties, mostly along U.S. 30, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Studies have found little human health risk of BTK spraying, although direct exposure to the spray can cause temporary skin, eye or respiratory irritation.

Original Article:  http://www.channel6000.com/c6k/news/stories/news-66708920010413-120405.html
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UPDATE:  4/24/01

Attack On Gypsy Moths Begins

Ashland Begins Spraying

ASHLAND, Ore., 3:16 p.m. PDT April 24, 2001 -- Ashland began its attack on gypsy moths Tuesday morning.

A chopper dropped insecticide over 160 acres in the southern Oregon city, KOIN 6 News reports.

While the insecticide doesn't cause problems for humans, neighbors were advised to stay inside during the 30 minutes of spraying.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture decided to spray the land after six tree-eating moths were trapped in the area last summer. Two more applications will be done in May.

Portland's Forest Park will also be sprayed with insecticide beginning Thursday.

Gypsy moths have devastated millions of acres in the eastern United States.

Original Article:  http://www.channel6000.com/c6k/news/stories/news-73861920010424-160421.html

Here how to contact the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture

Chris Kirby, Administrator Phone:  503-986-4635

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