Occasionally, the Snyder County Conservation District is asked to conduct gypsy moth egg mass surveys to determine the severity of the infestation. The Conservation District may conduct a survey this year depending on the situation.
Please note that there is no 2011 spray program for Snyder County due to low gypsy moth caterpillar counts and lack of funds.
In 2007, gypsy moth caterpillars chewed their way into Snyder County landowner’s woodlots after more than a ten year hiatus. To help combat the pesky leaf eaters in 2008, a joint effort between the Snyder County Commissioners, Snyder County Conservation District and the Department of Conservation & Natural Resources' (DCNR) PA Bureau of Forestry treated close to 1,200 acres in seven townships with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), a bacterial spray for leaf eating caterpillars.
Landowners were responsible for paying roughly half the spray costs while DCNR's Bureau of Forestry cost shared an estimated $21.00/acre in the past. To qualify for the spray program, the spray block had to have at least 24 wooded acres with a residence(s) or special use area within or near the woodlot. Adjoining landowners could combine their acres to come up with 24 or more total acres. Egg mass counts had be 250 per acre or higher to qualify. Landowner payments were made to the Conservation District before the spray block was approved.
If gypsy moth caterpillars return to Snyder County in large numbers, it is hard to say whether DCNR will have a cost share program available.
For more information about the monitoring program, or you suspect that you have gypsy moth caterpillars or egg masses, please contact Craig Bingman, District Manager, at 570-837-3000, x114. You can also contact DCNR's Bald Eagle State Forest District office near Laurelton at 570-922-3344 regarding gypsy moths and other forest pests.