Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 17, 1998
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Gov. Locke urges action on gypsy moth infestation

OLYMPIA—Gov. Gary Locke has written to Canada's Minister of Agriculture to urge stronger efforts to eradicate an infestation of gypsy moths on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Locke noted that no effective treatment measures have been taken despite an increase in trapped gypsy moths from just 17 in 1996 to 446 in 1998 on Vancouver Island.

"I am extremely concerned that, if Canadian authorities do not move quickly with eradication measures, the infestation will spread to Washington State," Locke wrote in his letter to Lloyd Vanclief, Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Locke said in his letter that officials from four western U.S. states and the U.S. Department of Agriculture met with Canadian officials to discuss the gypsy moth problem, but that "we were disappointed that both at that meeting and subsequently we received no indication that eradication measures will be implemented."

The moths eat native deciduous trees, such as oaks, but will also eat conifers when they are in close proximity to deciduous trees.

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