HARRISBURG, Pa. — Dauphin County is participating with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) in the 2016 Gypsy Moth Suppression Program to protect the area from defoliation. A large gypsy moth outbreak could have a major impact on forested property in Dauphin County.
Chris Hooper with the Dauphin County Conservation District will coordinate the suppression program for Dauphin County. Procedures for the landowners to follow to request spraying of their properties next spring are already in place if aerial spraying should be needed.
Landowners who wish to have their property surveyed for gypsy moth should contact the Dauphin County Conservation District at 717-921-8100 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Requests for spraying must be completed by August 21, 2015, because field investigations must be conducted during September and October. For this reason, landowners requesting spraying should not remove or destroy egg masses before December of 2015.
If submitting a request for gypsy moth aerial spraying please have the following information available: your name, address, phone number, municipality, acreage, and tax parcel numbers of the property which you are requesting spraying.
Submitting a request for gypsy moth aerial spraying is not a guarantee that spraying will be conducted on the requested property. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and Dauphin County have developed a set of guidelines that must be met before any area is sprayed. Only forested residential or special use areas can be sprayed. Undeveloped and uninhabited forest lands will not be sprayed by DCNR. In brief, an area must be 23 acres or larger in size, containing 250 or more healthy egg masses per acres, have a canopy cover which is at least 50 percent and containing tree species of oak, alder, American basswood, apple, aspen, birch, boxelder, hawthorn, sweetgum, tamarack (larch) and willow.
A public meeting will be held at the Dauphin County Agricultural and Natural Resources Center, August 3, 2015 at 7 p.m. to discuss the proposed 2016 Gypsy Moth Suppression Program. If you are a person with a disability and you wish to attend the public meeting and you require an auxiliary aid, service, or other accommodation to participate in the proceedings, please contact Eric Naguski directly at 717-921-8100 or through the Pennsylvania AT&T Relay Service at 1-800-654-5984 to discuss how Dauphin County may accommodate your needs.
A free informational brochure about the Dauphin County Gypsy Moth Suppression Program is available by calling the Dauphin County Conservation District. Landowners with questions about the gypsy moth or the program may call the Dauphin County Conservation District at 921-8100.
