600 Gypsy moth traps placed in Kitsap County
July 23, 2010 · 5:51 PM
The state Department of Agriculture’s annual gypsy moth summer trapping program is underway with 600 traps set in Kitsap.
The area east of the Bangor Submarine Base near the intersection of NW Sherman Hill Road and Highway 3 will be particularly heavily trapped because of past gypsy moth activity in the area, according to a statement.
Washington has never had a permanent population of the gypsy moth, the worst forest pest ever brought into the U.S., according to the statement.
The gypsy moth attacks more than 500 species of trees and plants. In its caterpillar form the pest quickly strips trees and plants of leaves, destroying some and weakening others so they are susceptible to plant diseases, the statement said. The caterpillar also destroys wildlife habitat, degrades water quality and triggers costly quarantines of timber, agriculture and nursery products.
Mark Church, trapping coordinator for Kitsap County, is looking forward to the coming trapping season. “We’ve kept this pest out of the state for 36 years,” he said in the statement. “We want that record to continue.”
Comment on this story.
So keep your comments:
- Civil
- Smart
- On-topic
- Free of profanity
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters. We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please refer to our Terms of Use for full detail on participating on our site.
