HARRISBURG – In an effort to protect wildlife habitat, Pennsylvania Game Commission officials announced they have scheduled gypsy moth spraying for a total of 42,731 acres of its more than 1.4 million acre State Game Lands (SGLs) system. Spraying will cover 38 different SGLs, and will occur in late April to early May, as soon as leaves pop out and gypsy moth egg masses hatch.
“Those participating in spring gobbler seasons may encounter helicopters or other aircraft spraying State Game Lands or other forested areas,” said William Capouillez, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Habitat Management director. “We want those hunters to rest assured that the spray being used is not harmful to humans, and only will impact gypsy moth caterpillars when they ingest the spray.”
To conduct this spraying, the Game Commission will pay $1,349,993.58 out of agency’s Growing Greener II funding to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which oversees the Statewide Cooperative Spray Program for gypsy moths.
“In the summer of 2007, a statewide inventory of gypsy moth impacts on SGLs identified defoliation on more than 93,000 acres,” Capouillez said. “To prioritize and focus spraying efforts, we looked at a series of factors, including: the importance of oaks on a particular SGL; socio-political impacts of each SGL; whether there were existing Important Bird Areas, Important Mammal Areas or critical/unique habitats on the SGL; past gypsy moth impacts and resulting forest habitat conditions; and financial values of timber stands.”
From this point, the agency identified the 42,731 acres in most critical need of treatment to prevent similar defoliation or loss due to the expected gypsy moth hatch this year. Based on the present data, all spraying will occur in the Northcentral (5,970 acres), Southcentral (27,818 acres), Northeast (1,116 acres) and Southeast (7,827 acres) regions. The Northwest and Southwest regions, which suffered little to no gypsy moth defoliation, are not slated for spraying at this time.
“While the agency has been conducting limited gypsy moth spraying to target high value areas over the past 10 years, we have not had a statewide outbreak of this severity since the late 1990s,” Capouillez said. “From 1984 to 1991, the agency was engaged in a large-scale salvage operation from the last gypsy moth outbreak. In that eight-year period, for example, the Southcentral Region averaged almost 3,000 acres per year of salvage harvests, as opposed to their target goal of 1,200 acres of forest habitat improvements per year today.
“This rate of harvest had many impacts on the Game Commission’s Forest Management and Wildlife Habitat program, both positive and negative. While the short-term increase in revenue was viewed as a positive, it also was seen as a negative as it will impact long-term timber management and, consequently, future timber revenues, and it created artificial expectations for many about funding the agency through timber revenues.”
Capouillez noted that, more significantly, the previous gypsy moth impacts enabled a rapid transition of forest habitat types on SGL from mixed oak to birch and maple, which is viewed as a negative in terms of being a detriment to wildlife.
“In the 1940s, after the chestnut blight nearly wiped out American chestnuts, which provided the best and most reliable wildlife foods, oaks filled the void for wildlife,” Capouillez said. “Unfortunately, in some areas, we now are seeing birch and maple replace the oak stands lost to gypsy moth defoliation.
“Prior to gypsy moth impacts, oak trees in Huntingdon County reportedly were producing 173 pounds of acorns per acre. After gypsy moths, the same areas were seeing only 67 pounds of acorns per acre. Seven of the eight lowest acorn production years occurred after gypsy moths hit the area, and 43 percent of oak trees were lost.”
Capouillez noted that, based on the value of SGL oaks for wildlife, the agency simply can’t afford not to invest in spraying this year.
“We know that mixed oak habitats are important for all wildlife,” Capouillez said. “Squirrel populations fluctuate with acorn crops. If acorn production is low, bears will den earlier, weigh less, produce fewer and smaller cubs and get into more nuisance situations. Deer over-winter survival and reproduction suffers when acorns are sparse. Neo-tropical birds, such as cerulean warblers, only occupy habitats dominated by oaks. Wild turkey and ruffed grouse populations also depend on acorns.”
Broken down by region, following is a listing of each SGL slated for spraying, the acreage scheduled for spraying and the total acreage of each SGL.
Northcentral Region:
SGL 176, in Centre County, 5,970 of the 6,231.48 acres.
Southcentral Region:
SGL 48, in Bedford County, 2,402 of the 10,807.14 acres.
SGL 53, in Fulton County, 1,612 of the 5,927.68 acres.
SGL 65, in Fulton County, 1,909 of the 6,073.06 acres.
SGL 67, in Huntingdon County, 197 of the 5,724.44 acres.
SGL 73, in Bedford, Blair and Huntingdon counties, 5,174 of the 20,817.05 acres.
SGL 76, in Franklin County, 470 of the 4,328.1 acres.
SGL 81, in Fulton and Huntingdon counties, 330 of the 3,533.3 acres.
SGL 88, in Juniata and Perry counties, 197 of the 6,930.2 acres.
SGL 97, in Bedford County, 61 of the 7,485.44 acres.
SGL 99, in Huntingdon County, 223 of the 4,471.82 acres.
SGL 104, in Bedford and Somerset counties, 1,004 of the 8,182.34 acres.
SGL 112, in Huntingdon County, 150 of the 6,588.28 acres.
SGL 118, in Blair and Huntingdon counties, 886 of the 6,046.41 acres.
SGL 121, in Huntingdon County, 44 of the 2,207.21 acres.
SGL 124, in Franklin and Fulton counties, 1,850 of the 6,835.24 acres.
SGL 128, in Fulton County, 772 of the 1,695.1 acres.
SGL 147, in Blair County, 1,803 of the 6,073.5 acres.
SGL 170, in Cumberland and Perry counties, 3,856 of the 9,308.6 acres.
SGL 171, in Juniata and Perry counties, 100 of the 1,086.48 acres.
SGL 212, in Snyder County, 25 of the 512.73 acres.
SGL 230, in Cumberland and Perry counties, 598 of the 1,076.54 acres.
SGL 235, in Franklin County, 664 of the 6,276.82 acres.
SGL 254, in Dauphin and Perry counties, 856 of the 1,075.33 acres.
SGL 256, in Perry County, 1,085 of the 1,254.53 acres.
SGL 258, in Dauphin and Perry counties, 196 of the 1,254.53 acres.
SGL 278, in Blair and Huntingdon counties, 646 of the 1,912.41 acres.
SGL 281, in Perry County, 684 of the 1,553.81 acres.
SGL 290, in Dauphin and Perry counties, 24 of the 989.87 acres.
Northeast Region:
SGL 119, in Luzerne County, 111 of the 7,967.29 acres.
SGL 187, in Luzerne County, 423 of the 8,186.19 acres.
SGL 221, in Monroe County, 430 of the 4,618.1 acres.
SGL 224, in Luzerne County, 152 of the 624.3 acres.
Southeast Region:
SGL 46, in Lebanon and Lancaster counties, 367 of the 6,254.67 acres.
SGL 145, in Lebanon County, 174 of the 2,815.81 acres.
SGL 156, in Lebanon and Lancaster counties, 226 of the 5,184.05 acres.
SGL 211, in Dauphin, Lebanon and Schuylkill counties, 6,906 of the 44, 432.08 acres.
SGL 274, in Berks and Lancaster counties, 154 of the 447.68 acres.