GAME COMMISSION ANNOUNCES GYPSY MOTH SPRAYING PLANS
In an effort to protect wildlife habitat, Pennsylvania Game Commission officials today announced they have scheduled gypsy moth spraying for a total of 42,731 acres of its more than 1.4 million acre State Game Lands (SGLs) system. Spraying will cover 38 different SGLs, and will occur in late April to early May, as soon as leaves pop out and gypsy moth egg masses hatch.
"Those participating in spring gobbler seasons may encounter helicopters or other aircraft spraying State Game Lands or other forested areas," said William Capouillez, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Habitat Management director. "We want those hunters to rest assured that the spray being used is not harmful to humans, and only will impact gypsy moth caterpillars when they ingest the spray."
To conduct this spraying, the Game Commission will pay $1,349,993.58 out of agency's Growing Greener II funding to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which oversees the Statewide Cooperative Spray Program for gypsy moths.
"In the summer of 2007, a statewide inventory of gypsy moth impacts on SGLs identified defoliation on more than 93,000 acres," Capouillez said. "To prioritize and focus spraying efforts, we looked at a series of factors, including: the importance of oaks on a particular SGL; socio-political impacts of each SGL; whether there were existing Important Bird Areas, Important Mammal Areas or critical/unique habitats on the SGL; past gypsy moth impacts and resulting forest habitat conditions; and financial values of timber stands."
>From this point, the agency identified the 42,731 acres in most critical need of treatment to prevent similar defoliation or loss due to the expected gypsy moth hatch this year. Based on the present data, all spraying will occur in the Northcentral (5,970 acres), Southcentral (27,818 acres), Northeast (1,116 acres) and Southeast (7,827 acres) regions. The Northwest and Southwest regions, which suffered little to no gypsy moth defoliation, are not slated for spraying at this time.
For more information, including a listing of each SGL slated for spraying, please visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency website:
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=11&Q=174002