Gypsy moths may win out in Pike

By TOM KANE

MILFORD, PA - The costs of the gypsy moth extermination program outweigh the benefits. So says Susan Beecher, director of the Pike County Conservation District.

Each spring since 2005, Pike County has participated in a moth suppression program, aimed at limiting the defoliation caused by gypsy moth caterpillars in certain forested areas. The cost share state program has been funded by a formula that has one third of the cost paid for by the federal government, one third by the state and one third by the county. The county’s cost last year was $677,000, which was paid for by property owners.

The entire program in Pike last year cost around $2.03 million.

“The district understands the nuisance created by the gypsy moth,” Beecher said.

“There are other options for private property owners who wish to have their properties sprayed. These may be more costly, but they can be tailored to more fully treat larger tracts or areas that don’t qualify for the state program,” Beecher said.

If the county decides to get out of the program, the spraying for 2009 will still be carried out. “We’re talking about spraying that would be done in 2010,” she said.

Even though property owners pay the county for the actual spraying, the indirect costs to the county are very high, Beecher said. She addressed her remarks to the county commissioners at their meeting on February 11.

“In 2008, the conservation district staff spent over 720 hours on the program, and traveled over 1,200 miles in conducting the field work,” she said. Other county expenditures include hours of the commissioners’ and treasurer’s office staff, who provide administrative support in billing and accounting, as well as the cost of printing and mailing applications, bills, required landowner notification and legal advertising.

Beecher listed several other reasons to support the continuation of the program. However, she also listed many more reasons for dropping it.

Money aside, science is now rethinking whether spray programs are the best management practices.

“Some in the science community feel that the best long-term management plan is to allow gypsy moths to run their course; let the natural predators control populations and put up with them when the outbreak becomes a nuisance,” she said.

“Neither the state land nor the federal government land is in the program since it is too costly for them,” said Rich Caridi, chairman of the commissioners.

The commissioners said they would take Beecher’s report under advisement and make a decision at the appropriate time.