FAQ

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1. Why is WSDA so concerned about keeping permanent populations of gypsy moths out of Washington?

2. Which 19 states have permanent populations of gypsy moth?

3. How extensive is the damage in the 19 states with permanent populations?

4. How much does WSDA spend a year on gypsy moth control?

5. Exactly how does the gypsy moth damage the environment?

6. Exactly how does the gypsy moth damage the economy?

7. How many gypsy eradication treatments have been conducted in Washington?

8. How many treatments have been successful?

9. How does WSDA define a successful treatment?

10. Why is the gypsy moth so much more destructive than other pests?

11. What is WSDA’s legal authority to conduct summer trapping and spring eradication programs?

12. Isn’t it a conflict of interest for WSDA to both propose an eradication treatment and then decide whether or not to approve it?

13. Who has the final say whether a gypsy moth eradication treatment is conducted?

14. What determines the size of a gypsy moth eradication zone?

15. What determines whether an eradication treatment is conducted with ground equipment or aircraft?

16. WSDA talks often about "pest insects". How do you define a pest insect?

17. How does WSDA distinguish between a gypsy moth "introduction" and "infestation"?

18. What trees commonly found in Washington would be particularly impacted if the gypsy moth were permanently established here?

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Answers

Question 1: Why is WSDA so concerned about keeping permanent populations of gypsy moths out of Washington?

Answer:  WSDA doesn’t want the worst forest pest insect ever to enter the U.S. to become permanently established in the state. We have seen the damage done to the environment and economy in the 19 states in the East and Midwest where permanent populations exist. We don’t want that to occur in Washington. It would have a catastrophic impact on our environment and economy.

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Question 2: Which 19 states have permanent populations of gypsy moth?

Answer: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

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Question 3: How extensive is the damage in the 19 states with permanent populations?

Answer: Very extensive. Hundreds of thousands of acres in the 19 states annually are defoliated, quarantined, and sprayed. Two examples illustrate the amount of damage that occurs: In 2008 in New Jersey 30,900 acres of trees died in the state as a result of repeated gypsy moth defoliation. In 2009 in Maryland 37,000 acres of vegetation were aerially sprayed to suppress existing infestations. By way of comparison the largest eradication treatment in Washington in the last 10 years has been over one square mile or 725 acres.

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Question 4: How much does WSDA spend a year on gypsy moth control?

Answer: About $1 million, of which about half is provided by the federal government. Approximately 75 percent of gypsy moth control money is spent on summer trapping, and 25 percent on eradication.

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Question 5: Exactly how does the gypsy moth damage the environment?

Answer: By weakening and killing trees and plants, destroying wildlife habitat, degrading water quality of creeks and streams, and reducing the use and aesthetic value of recreation areas.

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Question 6: Exactly how does the gypsy moth damage the economy?

Answer: By destroying or damaging plants, trees, and shrubs; by triggering costly quarantines of agriculture, nursery, and timber products; and by reducing tourism. Visitors don’t visit locations infested with caterpillars.

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Question 7: How many gypsy eradication treatments have been conducted in Washington?

Answer: Eighty five. The first treatment was conducted in 1979, the most recent one in 2007. Sixty-four treatments have been ground treatments, 16 have been aerial treatments, and five have been joint air-ground treatments.

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Question 8: How many treatments have been successful?

Answer: All of them. Washington has never had a permanent population of gypsy moth.

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Question 9: How does WSDA define a successful treatment?

Answer: Two consecutive summers of negative trapping following an eradication treatment. Eradication treatments occur in late spring. Summer trapping occurs from July-September. If no moths are caught for two consecutive summers, the treatment is declared a success.

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Question 10: Why is the gypsy moth so much more destructive than other pests?

Answer: Because it feeds on more than 500 species of trees and plants, and reproduces very rapidly. A single female moth can produce up to 500 females the following spring.

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Question 11: What is WSDA’s legal authority to conduct summer trapping and spring eradication programs?

Answer: Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 17.24.101 (Statewide survey and control activity) and RCW 17.24.021.

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Question 12: Isn’t it a conflict of interest for WSDA to both propose an eradication treatment and then decide whether or not to approve it?

Answer: No. State law directs WSDA to survey for the presence of destructive pests; propose eradication treatments when infestations are located; prepare assessments of the impact of the eradication proposals on the environment; make the assessments available for public review and comment; and then approve or disapprove the proposals based on all evidence presented.

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Question 13: Who has the final say whether a gypsy moth eradication treatment is conducted?

Answer: The people of the state of Washington. They exercise this authority through public officials they elect to office, the state’s judicial system, and in some cases directly.

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Question 14: What determines the size of a gypsy moth eradication zone?

Answer: Where gypsy moths were caught, where other evidence of gypsy moth activity in the area was detected, and host vegetation in the area.

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Question 15: What determines whether an eradication treatment is conducted with ground equipment or aircraft?

Answer: WSDA prefers to conduct treatments with ground treatments. However, WSDA will use aircraft when the size or typography of a proposed treatment zone make it prohibitively expensive to administer the treatment with ground equipment.

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Question 16: WSDA talks often about "pest insects". How do you define a pest insect?

Answer: An insect that infects people or domesticated animals with diseases, or competes with people for food, fiber, or living space.

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Question 17: How does WSDA distinguish between a gypsy moth "introduction" and "infestation"?

Answer: An "introduction" is a first-time detection. An "infestation" is a conclusion by state entomologists that a reproducing population of gypsy moth is present. Most introductions die out on their own. Conclusions that reproducing populations are present are based on multiple catches in close proximity to each other over multiple years, or evidence of other gypsy moth activity detected in an area (e.g., egg masses, pupal cases, cast skins, of dead moths found on the ground).

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Question 18: What trees commonly found in Washington would be particularly impacted if the gypsy moth were permanently established here?

Answer: Oak, apple, hawthorne, poplar, willow, and maple.

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