News Releases

For immediate release: 5/23/2024

Ceremony kicks off 2024 trapping season

OLYMPIA – Seasonal trappers are starting to disperse throughout the state to set traps as part of the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s (WSDA) annual hunt for invasive species.

This marks the start of the 50th year that WSDA has monitored for and successfully kept spongy moth – a highly invasive pest that has devastated forests in the Eastern United States – from establishing in Washington. WSDA first detected spongy moth in 1974 and conducted the first spongy moth eradication in 1979. While WSDA trapped as many as 1315 moths in 1983, the trapping and eradication project has been so successful over the decades that since 1995 there have only been two years that the department trapped more than 100 moths.

To celebrate this success, WSDA will hold a “Golden Trap Ceremony” on Tuesday, May 28 at 12:15 p.m. in Olympia. The event will be held near the Sunken Garden on the state capitol grounds. Tracy Shirek, who has been a seasonal trapping supervisor with the WSDA Spongy Moth Program for nearly 30 years, will have the honor of hanging a golden trap to mark the start of the trapping season.

“We get new introductions of spongy moth into Washington every year,” Sven Spichiger, WSDA Pest Program Manager, said. “Keeping this destructive moth from establishing here for so long is a testament to the commitment the public, state and federal officials, and our staff have to protect Washington’s natural resources.”

Spongy moth is just one of 130 pests that WSDA’s Pest Program monitors for every year. In addition to the invasive moths, other major pests WSDA will be looking for this year include Japanese beetles, apple maggots, grape and stone fruit pests, and wood-boring insects. Trapping for the northern giant hornet will also begin later this summer.

WSDA’s traps are labeled for easy identification. If you find a trap, do not disturb it. Traps are placed in systematic grids to ensure proper pest detection. If a trap has fallen or needs to be moved, please note the number written on the trap and contact the WSDA Pest Program at pest@agr.wa.gov or 1-800-443-6684.
 
Media advisory: The media is invited to attend WSDA’s Golden Trap Ceremony on May 28 at 12:15 p.m. at the Sunken Garden on the state capitol grounds. Please contact Karla Salp at ksalp@agr.wa.gov or 360-480-5397 for questions or to RSVP.