Many people have called to say that gypsy moth are hatching now. I have seen them also, but noticed some egg masses in the higher elevations on the Frederick City Watershed on 4-25-08 and the Sabillasville area on 4-26-08 that have not yet hatched.

Once hatched, the gypsy moth are in their 1st development phase known as an "instar". In this phase the moth spins a silk thread and disperses by floating through the wind "ballooning". This spinning of silk was what prompted its introduction into this country in the first place. The moth does not start feeding on leaves until it reaches its second instar when they initiate their "shot hole" feeding pattern when they make little holes in the leaves. In their early instars gypsy moth are discriminating in what they feed upon preferring the oaks, basswood, willow, and apple trees. As they develop into their later instars 3rd, 4th, 5th the moths grow much larger getting to be nearly 3 inches in length and they begin feeding on the whole leaf . The moth become less choosy in what they will feed upon and the will defoliate most trees except for certain varieties like ash and tulip poplar. This is when severe defoliation takes place.

In our program we are waiting for most moths to be in their second instar (when they begin feeding on leaves) and for the oak leaves to be at least 60% developed (to provide a surface for they spray to adhere to) before we begin our program. This should occur around the first week of May in most areas. We are checking daily with the Maryland Department of Agriculture for the optimum time to begin and will do so once conditions are favorable. If we spray too early we run the risk that more spray reaches the ground instead of sticking to leaves where it will do the most good. Also, since the spray has a active life of about a month; spraying too early may not control large gypsy moth that could migrate onto your property from untreated areas later in the month.

We are fortunate that our contractor, Ag-Air is beginning their program in Frederick County and they are utilizing two helicopters. As such, once we are good to go, we should get our spraying wrapped up in a week or two depending on the weather.

One of the benefits of the chemical we are using "Confirm" is that the moths quit eating immediately once they ingest the insecticide and they often die within a day or so. As such, once sprayed you should see an immediate response to the spray.

We have finished the mapping of properties and the information has been converted to Ag-Nav files and are in the possession of the spray contractor. As such, I can not alter the information or map out any new properties. If someone has still not signed up they can contact Ag-Air directly at 717-792-1776 or they can search the MD Department of Agriculture's web site www.mda.state.md.us/plants.gypsymoth for a list of spray contractors.

Did you notice that we're having a damp, cool spring? (Ok some days were warm!) Given these conditions it is likely that the naturally occurring bacterium and virus could become active and help us in our suppression efforts. Hopefully we'll deal the moth a fatal one-two punch and really stifle their populations so next year won't be as bad.

1. We have finished the final digitizing of spray blocks and submitted the files to MDA for conversion and transfer to Ag-Nav files. I am awaiting the return of the Ag-Nav files and once I receive them I will send them to Ag-Air and they should have everything they need. I would like to thank Tom Lupp and Lee Venables for their assistance with this process. Especially Tom, who took precious time out of his schedule and literally did most of the work on this process. Without Tom's help I don't think it would have been completed.

2. We are making last minute calls to landowners who have not paid the balance of their fee. If they do not pay soon. We will exclude them from the spray blocks. (I don't want to do this for many reasons, the main one being it will mean extra work on my part; however, there are nearly 600 acres in this category and it would be unfair to Ag-Air to spray these for free.)

3. Ag-Air purchased the Confirm and Penetrator Plus chemicals and is in the process of identifying Landing Zones.

4. Many of you have e-mailed or called indicating that the gypsy moth are hatching out. From what I gather, we need most moths to be in their second instar and for the oak leaves to be 60% or more developed before spraying begins to ensure that we hit the main hatching of insects, and that there is plenty of surface area on the canopy for the chemical to adhere to. Otherwise the chemical falls to the ground and does no good. With all this in mind we are anticipating beginning the program sometime during the first of the month.

5. We have a total of 8,200 acres that have paid; and another 600 that say they will, totaling 8,800 acres.

6. We will be starting out with two helicopters and we can expect to spray about 1,000 acres per day per helicopter on a good day so if all goes well, the spraying should be done in one week.

7. Tom suggested that we utilize the Web Site to indicate where we will be spraying on any given day. Perhaps John and I can coordinate this.

I will work with Mike to provide daily updates. - John

Many people attended the County Commissioners workshop on the gypsy moth problem yesterday providing testimony on why the insect is so destructive and lending support for the regular program administered by the Maryland Department of Agriculture along with our supplemental program. We were rewarded for our efforts when the Commissioners voted to fully fund the Department of Agriculture's program anticipated to be 20,000 acres and to provide 40% funding up to a maximum of $150,000 for our supplemental program. The $150,000 total was derived from our estimate that we will treat 10,000 acres with the supplemental program. If more than 10,000 acres is treated the cost share percent that landowners receive may be less than 40%. The gypsy moth task force will be meeting soon to determine how these funds will be distributed.

We would like to thank the County Commissioners for their dedication to our forests and natural resources. Thank you very much!

Please visit our Contacts page for assistance.

We are very happy to announce that Ag-Air LLC has been selected to conduct the spraying for gypsy moth for our 2008 program. Ag-Air LLC utilizes helicopter application and is willing to spray blocks down to 10 acres in size. (If your property is less than 10 acres in size you can join together with a neighbor or neighbors to create the 10 acre minimum.) Ag-Air's has adopted a sliding scale for application so there is a price reduction depending on the size of spray blocks. The estimated cost of spraying will be between $42/ acre and $27/acre depending on the size of the spray block. By combining together with your neighbor you may be able to reduce your cost in spraying and increase the effectiveness of the control.

After much thought and discussion within our committee, we have chosen the insecticide Confirm for this program. We believe that Confirm is the best available insecticide that provides significant control for the gypsy moth.

If you have contacted my office in the past, you should be receiving a copy of your spray map in the mail soon. I ask that you review this map and call me at 301-473-8417 if you have any questions or need to correct the map. If the map looks fine then you should sign the map and send it back to my office. By signing the map you signify that you reviewed it and approve its accuracy. Your GIS map will form the basis for the spray program. If you do not receive a map this week or have not called my office please call me at 301-473-8417!

Our committee has also retained the services of Parkton Woodland Services to act as the "Agent" between Ag-Air and you the landowner. Parkton will coordinate the submission of applications with you and the contractor, and ensure that the program proceeds in an efficient and desirable manner. Parkton should be contracting you soon and will provide cost and contractual details.

Mike Kay

Gypsy moth is an introduced insect pest that can defoliate trees if it is present in large enough numbers. This defoliation normally occurs in late May or early June when trees are most vulnerable because they have used up most of their energy reserves leafing out. This can severely impact the health of the tree sometimes causing it to die the same year or in future years especially if it is defoliated again or we experience drought.

Gypsy moth needs to eat oak trees in the early stages of their development but they can feed on other varieties when they become larger so most trees can suffer defoliation if conditions are right. An upsurge in the gypsy moth population occurred in 2007 and it is expected to be worse in 2008. The mountainous regions had the worst defoliation with nearly 5,000 acres being impacted in Frederick County. Hardest hit was the east slope of South Mountain from Rt. 40 to Rt. 77, and the east slope of Catoctin Mountain from Mountaindale up to the Pennsylvania border. Projections for 2008 are that gypsy moth will be active in most of our mountainous regions defoliating an estimated 40,000 acres of forest.

Unfortunately this upsurge in gypsy moth comes at a time when county, state and federal budgets are being reduced and it is unlikely that significant private forestland will be sprayed by the Maryland Department of Agriculture's spray program. For this reason we have developed a "Supplemental" gypsy moth suppression program to compliment the efforts of the Maryland Department of Agriculture program. The intent of our program is to make gypsy moth suppression available to landowners who are threatened by the insect if they have high populations in or around their property. To meet these objectives, we have approached aerial spray applicators and have asked for bids for controlling gypsy moth using either Dimilin or Confirm insecticides. Both of these insecticides are insect growth regulators that offer nearly 100% control of the insect. We hope that banding together numerous properties will lower the cost of suppression and increase the effectiveness of control. So far we have assembled a list of nearly 300 landowners representing 8,000 acres throughout the mountainous regions of the county.

At present there are no cost incentive programs available for the supplemental program so landowners who wish to participate will have to pay 100% of the costs estimated to be $30 - $60 per acre. We are still trying to acquire some additional funding which could lower the cost to participants. If you have already displayed interest in this program we have included your name on a spreadsheet and will send you an application once the successful applicator is chosen. For more information on this program please call the Maryland Forest Service at 301-473-8417.

A.) Not every forest in Frederick County will be threatened by gypsy moth during the spring of 2008. If you are living in the mountainous areas of Frederick County you are at higher risk than others. To find out more about your relative risk you can contact the Maryland Department of Agriculture at 301-662-2074. This office has conducted surveys around the county and has a pretty good understanding of where the highest populations exist.

If your property is in an "Red Zone" area your forest is at risk for defoliation. You may be eligible for the regular MDA program.

If you are not eligible for the MDA program or you want a back up program you can call the Maryland Forest Service at 301-473-8417 and sign up for the Supplemental Spray program.

1.You must first apply for the program by calling 301-473-8417. You will be asked to provide your name, address, telephone and telephone number. It would be helpful if you could provide the Map and Parcel number of the property you wish to have sprayed.

2. Once we have your information we will include your name on a spreadsheet for the various spray blocks we have created and map your property using our GIS mapping program.

3. After the contractor has been selected you will receive an application in the mail with a map of your property. You will be asked to sign the applications, review the map and sign it signifying that it is an accurate representation of your property, and enclose a deposit. If you have questions or concerns with the map you will need to contact us to revise the map. If you do not return the application by the specified date then you will not be part of the program. We will be using a third party to act as an agent between you and the spray contractor. This is being done to reduce the administrative burden on the contractor. This agent will require a nonrefundable administrative fee for their services.

4. Once your order is processed you will receive a receipt and your property will be scheduled for spraying. Depending on the contractor you may have to pay the balance of your bill before or after spraying occurs.

5. Spraying will be conducted in late April or early May once the tree leaves have emerged.

- You will reduce your costs and provide more effective control by creating a large a spray block as possible. As such, you might want to contact neighbors to see if they wish to participate.

- We only wish to spray areas that are in danger of defoliation. Please determine if you are in need of spraying before you apply.

- There are no cost incentive programs available at present so you will have to pay 100% of the cost of spraying. V - If you have contacted our office you are already on the list of participants.