Clark Haynes is hoping for a wet spring and more money from Congress. If both fail to materialize, the assistant director for the state Department of Agriculture's forest health protection programs says next year's gypsy moth season could be the state's worst.
The number of acres defoliated by gypsy moths has steadily increased. This year 78,000 acres were harmed. Haynes predicts that number could easily reach 160,000 acres next year if dry conditions prevail.
West Virginia has had three dry springs in a row. During that time, the number of acres defoliated increased substantially per year: 2,641 in 2005; 17,272 in 2006; and about 78,000 this year.
The state is about 79 percent forested and the damage to hardwood trees comes during May and June, when the gypsy moth caterpillars eat the leaves. Oak is the favorite target, but the caterpillars will eat about anything, including ornamental yard plantings.
Adding to Haynes' concern is President Bush's proposed federal budget. Funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's gypsy moth program has been drastically cut, he said.
Proposed funding for a nationwide cooperative suppression program has been cut and a second program designed to control the moth's spread has been cut $10 million to $6 million, Haynes said.
"The funding situation is dire," he said. "We have written our congressmen and senators. They are aware of the situation. I don't know what they can do about it."
Sen. Robert C. Byrd is the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. On Friday he said the Senate had proposed spending $47.2 million on cooperative forest health programs, or $9.1 million more than Bush has proposed.
The increase would maintain gypsy moth funding at current levels, but Bush has threatened to veto the bill, the West Virginia Democrat said.
It was a commercial venture that unleashed the gypsy moth in this country. The insects were imported to the northeastern United States in 1869 as an inexpensive source for silk.
Their infestation now extends from Maine to Wisconsin. U.S. Forest Service estimates show that by 2015, the moth will cover an area stretching from Maine to Georgia and from Georgia to Minnesota.
Mid-Altantic states are expected to be particularly hard hit next year, Haynes said.
Earlier this week the Maryland's forest pest manager said his agency is considering targeting about 100,000 acres for pesticide spraying, up from about 50,000 this year. It would be the biggest spraying program since 1991 aimed at controlling the cyclical infestations.AP
