VASCM: Light Brown Apple Moth Update, Public Meetings, Scheduled Treatments

Sun Feb 17 15:12:27 PST 2008

****The CDFA has scheduled a series of public meetings on the light 
brown apple moth, both informational and interactive in order to receive 
public input, including the latter in Santa Cruz this Thursday. 
Following is some information on these meetings, as well as an update on 
treatment plans in Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties.

- Mary Lindsay

*This Thursday, the 21st,* the CDFA will hold a public meetings to 
receive agency and public comments on the scope and content of the 
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Light Brown Apple Moth 
Eradication Program*.  *The EIR will evaluate the effects of eradication 
strategies and methods for the light brown apple moth in portions of the 
state where infestations have been identified. Environmental issues 
raised during the meetings will be incorporated into a public scoping 
report and made available to the public and preparers of the EIR.
**

*_Santa Cruz_*
Thursday, February 21, 2008, 6:00 -- 8:00 p.m.
University Inn & Conference Center
Sierra & Dawn Room
611 Ocean Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

The deadline for written comments is March 20, 2008. They may be sent to:

Jim Rains, Staff Environmental Scientist
CA Department of Food and Agriculture
Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services
1220 N Street, Room A-316
Sacramento, CA 95814

More information, including an action plan for light brown apple moth 
eradication, can be found at 
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/PDEP/lbam/lbam_main.html

****

*

The California Department of Food and Agriculture will hold a Light 
Brown Apple Moth Environmental Advisory Task Force Meeting:

**
Thursday, February 21
*
*12:20 - 4:30 p.m.*
*Marriott Hotel*
*350 Calle Principal*
*Monterey, CA

*

*San Mateo County
*Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 5:30 -- 7:00 p.m.
Native Sons Hall
112 Stage Road
Pescadero, CA 94060

Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 7:30 -- 9:00 p.m.
The Train Depot
110 Higgins Canyon Road
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019

The public may observe but will not participate directly in these meetings.

In September 2007, the California Department of Food and Agriculture 
(CDFA) initiated a program to eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth 
(LBAM) in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties.

The CDFA announced recently that treatment using pheromone-infused twist 
ties is scheduled to begin February 25 in San Mateo County and March 4 
in San Rafael. Informational open houses 
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OaSAnIY-2CP2Q0_CT9Zr1efqlx28VFhPE8THeEm0HxM3lwLLJRa8Eq7yhAsrmo5hCPf5gLZ_Z3Im2yNREfWi7tEzlsM_cfCTOj8hU8XK8FMJQFZYNx7r5hiSj6msX6997pcrOdLrMjbzj90DG-EV532PGKQZlkWU7TZpItG5kf6dxnBnqIMVuG_DN4fhhXj-> 
are scheduled in those locations.

Aerial pheromone treatments in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties are 
planned to resume in late spring or early summer. Other treatment 
efforts will include pheromone twist ties, which will likely be applied 
beginning this month.

The following treatments have not yet been scheduled: 1) ground 
treatments with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and spinosad, 2) a "male 
attractant" treatment, and 3) releasing Trichogramma wasps, which lay 
their eggs inside moth eggs.

The first confirmation of the LBAM came in February 2007. Since then, 
many thousands have been detected in the counties of Monterey, Santa 
Cruz, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, 
Alameda and Solano. Small, isolated infestations detected last year in 
Los Angeles and Napa counties have already been eradicated.

Read more 
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OaSAnIY-2CMbNbFFFVBMonNkXD0WuMSsIRRwyD4b_ty6ObtVfmhf63p9YTVI3DLsqx90LSLWM4dgKe9VID8JMki8l2VnXXDCiguWMklSp9i7uJh4lRGflfDdnv2S98Zeq6PfrGhgFEitgHMG0PMW76WPBVBGf3ow> 
(at http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/PDEP/lbam/lbam_main.html) and sign up 
for for LBAM email updates 
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OaSAnIY-2CPlXkVnEpEHYu86Mli6vtXL0N7h1hlihvTgxIkkYcAn_CvRlnvwfa7oetuDwPd9fYzxw153IFYJYlCoUeGFU_AcqNktGSrOnTUioukZZSWEEtHLCW1jNx5SH-esQdal6qOsNBooBJcTIw==> 
(at http://phpps.cdfa.ca.gov/notification/signup2.aspx) from CDFA.

Read CDFA's press release 
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OaSAnIY-2CPOOtC_s03pq3ysq7myK5vK8sC_pDRRmVZM5Qh8T7a2iwo8dMQQHCm_yIwcNf-sbkuxHX9bzDm-045pvQznhXLVfUZOXOZXwHiyAxRhFiu9uf3Ji6PMRWH5HGgXUQTlZZRRSWVY7DgFS5HQ2Yfql0np6Glmm6I4h6sJAfYzcVSQu050U98vC15H> 
(at 
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/Press_Releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=08-003) 
with details about its 2008 LBAM eradication program.

Also visit Pesticide Action Network North America's extensive LBAM web 
page 
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OaSAnIY-2CMdOY1lI7Wn05iIOP8n8c_mFLXbjvMTsCS3vq9v2O8U-hQu0KpBa41-c-ZXezIeI6B92JyyGsoin-nzRs5DnSOsvtjmpsDekb74OIp9wI8hx9XasTZE_Sj2> 
at http://www.panna.org/resources/lbam .

Updates from the PANNA website:

*Jan. 10 --* "Citizen groups and governmental agencies have received 
hundreds of complaints from people who said they had adverse physical 
reactions following the state's three recent rounds of aerial pesticide 
spraying in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties," reports Pesticide Watch 
<http://www.panna.org/resources/lbam#resources>. From September through 
November, CDFA repeatedly covered densely populated areas of Santa Cruz 
and Monterey counties with aerial applications of CheckMate. MSNBC 
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22511212/> reported that, after the first 
aerial spraying, residents began to complain of shortness of breath and 
sharp stomach pains. On Jan. 5, the /Santa Cruz Sentinel 
<http://www.panna.org/resources/lbam#Group%20alleges>/ cited an 
allegation that 643 complaints had been filed. CDFA spokesman Steve Lyle 
said his agency had received 330 complaints of spray-related illness but 
he downplayed the news, insisting that "the agencies with the 
jurisdiction to review the product have told us it's safe to use.... 
[and] the Checkmate products were unlikely the cause of the illnesses 
reported." (See Nov. 22 update, below.) A coalition of state and local 
groups has called on the governor and legislature to block further 
aerial spraying, which could resume as early as February and extend into 
San Francisco and the East Bay by summer. Instead, citizen activists are 
recommending use of less invasive pheromone-scented traps and 
twist-ties. Santa Cruz City Councilmember Emily Reilly declared, "I 
believe further spraying must be halted until we can be certain it is safe."

*Feb. 15 --* The CDFA has released its revised "2008-2009 LBAM Action 
Plan <http://www.panna.org/resources/lbam#CDFA2008-2009>" that continues 
to claim that "eradication is the goal" of the program, including a 
combination of aerial application of pheromone products around the SF 
Bay region. An expanded program of ground-level IPM programs will 
accompany the aerial spraying, prior to aerial spraying and continuing 
through several moth growth cycles, including pheromone "twist ties" and 
introduction of the Tricogramma parasitic wasp in Golden Gate Park, 
Santa Cruz, Soquel, Carmel and the Seaside/Marina area of Monterey. 
Aereal applications of a new formulation of CheckMate over areas of 
heaviest investation will begin June 1 in Monterrey and Santa Cruz 
counties, and about August 1 in areas of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, 
San Francisco and San Mateo Counties.

**