Word to ya Moth

State certifies LBAM environmental impact report.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The state promises not to spray us with pheremones from planes anymore. Kind of.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture certified its final environmental impact report (EIR) for the light brown apple moth (LBAM) control program and filed a notice of determination with the state Office of Planning and Research.

But in an apparent effort to calm activists who were freaked out by the overhead sprayings of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties in fall 2007, CDFA clarified that "aerial treatment with moth pheromones is not a management tool in this program. Additionally, CDFA concurs with the USDA's recent announcement that the program has shifted from eradication to suppression and control."

CDFA found the LBAM program is "unlikely" to cause human or environmental harm, and that "greater potential for…harm would come from widespread pesticide use by private parties and organizations in the absence of an LBAM program."

The CDFA is now working to evaluate its LBAM treatment options, including the release of sterile moths (reared in Moss Landing) and the ground application of pheromone twist ties.