Gypsy moths have been marching slowly across America since they were brought to the East Coast from Europe more than a century ago, destroying over 300 different kinds of trees in the process, but quarantine along the invasion’s Minnesota front may slow the destruction for areas west of here.
Gypsy moths defoliate trees in Europe much like forest tent caterpillars do here, but gypsy moths have natural predators keeping them in check in Europe. They have no predators doing that here. A gypsy moth invasion two years in a row or an invasion followed by a forest tent caterpillar invasion can kill the trees in America.
Lucia Hunt of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture talked to the county board on June 18, 2013 about the planned quarantine of Cook and Lake counties starting in the spring of 2014.
Plants are vital for numerous reasons, Hunt explained, including what they contribute to air and water quality, the aesthetics inherent in recreation and tourism, and as a natural resource for the nursery and forest products industries.
Quarantines have kept bad things at bay since biblical times, Hunt said. Thousands of years ago, lepers were separated from the general population, and hundreds of years agao, the Bubonic Plague was kept at bay by 40-day quarantines on ships arriving in ports. Even in modern times, people with contagious diseases have been quarantined.
Insect pests have caused problems on more than one continent when introduced to foreign soils. To help avoid potential ecosystem devastation, the International Plant Protection Convention was convened in 1989, and the national Slow the Spread campaign for gypsy moths was begun in 2000, decreasing the speed of the U.S. spread by 60 percent.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) manages insect threats inside our country’s borders, the Minne s ot a Department of Agriculture deals with threats inside the state, and the two entities usually back each other up in regulating and monitoring the control of pests. Failure to comply with quarantine regulations includes both financial and criminal penalties.
The gypsy moth invasion into northeastern Minnesota is believed to have come by air over Lake Superior from Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which are already quarantined, and by human transport.
Cook County has been monitored since 2004 and treated since 2006. Traps have been set up in areas considered at high-risk of invasion: campgrounds, state parks, sawmills and nurseries. The problem is considered severe enough now to trigger concerted efforts to keep them at bay.
Treatments are ineffective at this point, so eradication is not considered possible. Gypsy moths continue to spread on their own. The goal is to keep humans from speeding up the process, Hunt said, but to do it without hampering trade and commerce. “The goal is not to stop it,” she said. “The goal is to slow it.”
Officials will be available and will inspect places such as nurseries, Hunt said, but “most of the inspections are self-inspections.”
“Regulated articles” considered the highest risk for spreading gypsy moths are trees and shrubs (including nursery stock and Christmas trees), timber products such as logs, pulpwood, and bark, mobile homes and outdoor equipment such as camping supplies, and “any other products, articles, or means of conveyance” that may spread gypsy moths.”
A memo from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)states, “Regulated articles can move into quarantined areas unrestricted, but once inside, all regulated articles become subject to quarantine restrictions. It is illegal to move these regulated articles out of a quarantine area unless they are accompanied by an MDA certificate (when destined for another site in Minnesota) or a joint MDA/USDA certificate (when moving across state borders). Certificates are only available when a compliance agreement is signed by the company, city, county, agency, or organization interested in moving the regulated article.
“The quarantine is designed to limit the movement of high-risk materials but, at the same time, provide options for moving regulated articles pest-free and so as not to hinder commerce.
“A compliance agreement (CA) allows regulated articles to move out of a quarantine area by defining how they will be handled to mitigate the spread of gypsy moth.” Training on how to do this is provided at no cost.
Hedstrom Lumber Company of Grand Marais has a compliance agreement in effect, which requires the mill to process the wood they get from outside quarantined sources within a certain timeframe. President Howard Hedstrom was at the meeting and indicated he did not think quarantine was a bad idea. It has been helping keep gypsy moths out of the wood that gets delivered to Hedstrom’s.
The problem is that with Cook County under quarantine, other places that buy Hedstrom’s wood would need to be able to process the wood within a certain timeframe as well or not be able to take the wood.
Hedstrom said that the forest products industry is considering the implications of either making the quarantine larger, such as including the entire state to facilitate transport within the state, or making the quarantines smaller, such as including only townships that are affected, and will be advocating for whatever way will bring about the best outcome for the industry. Hunt said the Minnesota Department of Agriculture would be unlikely to allow the quarantine to include the whole state as long as some areas are still gypsy-moth-free.
Much of the compliance will be voluntary. Hunt said campers are encouraged to inspect their equipment before leaving their campsites and to destroy egg masses that may be attached to them by, for example, throwing them into a campfire.
Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk said she was apprehensive about being labeled a “quarantined” county because it might be a deterrent to tourists.
Even when a whole state is quarantined, Hunt said, the government will have a sliding keep spraying in cities and recreational areas.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is intending to hold a public hearing on this issue in Cook County later this summer.
In other county news:
. The board authorized Highway Engineer David Betts to fill the account clerk position recently vacated by Sera Stevens. He will try to pull from last year’s roster of applicants for the position and will advertise if necessary.
. The board approved a draft of a proposed amendment to the septic system loan ordinance to include loans for abandoning non-conforming septics and connecting to municipal treatment systems. A hearing on the proposed ordinance revision will be held Wednesday, August 14 before the regular planning commission meeting.
. The board approved a loan of $26,500 from the revolving loan fund to Gun Flint Tavern owner Jeff Gecas for energy efficient windows and doors and tuckpointing. It will cover about a third of the cost of the project, which is being funded in part by loans from the EDA and the city of Grand Marais as well.
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