• Home
  • News
    • Business
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
    • Legislature
    • Politics / Govt
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • The Bill Pollock Show
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support

Missourinet

Your source for Missouri News and Sports

You are here: Home / News / Threat to Missouri’s forests moving closer

Threat to Missouri’s forests moving closer

October 21, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

A major threat to our oak forests and the economic value they have to Missouri has munched its way closer. That munching is making Missouri bug-watchers nervous.

Every year, state entomologist Collin Walmsley checks the traps for for gypsy moths, which have killed thousands of acres of oak trees in the northeast. This year he found ten, indicating there’s no established population here.

But in Iowa, traps turned up 624 males, 73-percent more than the old record. That’s not good news to Walmsley. "It makes us very nervous," he says. He says Missouri has about 12.5 million acres of oak forest in Missouri, and gypsy moth larvae like oaks. "We have about a four-to-five billion dollar forest products industry in Missouri that’s dependent on oak," he adds.

He says the moth is moving this way quickly with the numbers found in Iowa. He says there was an outbreak in southwest Illinois, near St.Louis, last year. And what’s worse is that funding for a federal eradication program has been cut in half–increasing the approaching threat.

Walmsley says there are effective pesticides to fight them if a population is found in Missouri. But heading off the need for those pesticides will require continued close attention.

 

Download Bob Priddy’s story (:61 mp3)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: News

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.



Tweets by Missourinet

Sports

Tilmon becoming a force in his senior season at Mizzou (PODCAST)

Thanks for … [Read More...]

Tigers build on fast start in win over South Carolina

Behind a … [Read More...]

In the old days, Mahomes would have been back out there against the Browns (PODCAST)

Thanks for … [Read More...]

New U.S. women’s soccer captain Sauerbrunn says she got her toughness from her older brothers

Becky … [Read More...]

State reps want St. Louis Cardinals to erect a slavery monument near Busch Stadium

St. … [Read More...]

More Sports

Tweets by missourisports

Archives

Opinion/Editorials

TwitterFacebook

Copyright © 2021 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC