FOREST PEST REPORT FALL 2020 - GARRETT COUNTY PRIVATE AND STATE LAND

MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

FOREST PEST REPORT FALL 2020

GARRETT COUNTY PRIVATE AND STATELAND

This Forest Pest Report is to inform you of the results of our 2020 gypsy moth egg mass surveys for Garrett County. The Western Maryland Office of Forest Pest Management began gypsy moth egg mass surveys on private and state land in Garrett County on July 31, 2020 and completed them January 7, 2021. A total of 1025 surveys were conducted on 57,912 acres throughout the county (see table 1), 600 surveys were conducted on private land and 434 surveys on state land. There were 232 positive sites in 2019 and 174 positive sites in 2020, indicating a 75% drop in the number of positive sites. The population levels that were detected in the fall (2020) are below our minimum suppression requirement of 250 egg masses per acre. It is a pleasure to report there are no areas proposed for treatment for gypsy moth caterpillars in the spring of 2021.

Even though the gypsy moth populations were lower this past year this insect still has a potential for rapid population resurgence. It only takes a season or two of favorable conditions for potentially defoliating levels to return, so it is vital to monitor the populations every year in order to detect changes and make recommendations ahead of time to landowners and state land managers.

The state of Pennsylvania has scheduled 200,000 acres of gypsy moth suppression for the spring of 2021. The statewide populations of gypsy moths in Maryland are low, however 486 acres of suppression activities are scheduled for the lower Eastern Shore in the Spring 2021

Table 1

Western Maryland Office of Forest Pest Management

Egg Mass Survey Totals for Garrett County Fall 2020

#Private land #State land Survey Total Survey #Acres

Survey Points Survey Points Points Surveyed

600 434 1025 57,912

I have included a color coded map that indicates where the surveys were conducted for gypsy moth egg masses in 2020 and the population levels of gypsy moth egg masses in those areas. We will begin gypsy moth egg mass surveys again in July 2021.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact our regional office in Cumberland at (301) 777- 3601 or e-mail me at: sally.cannon@maryland.gov. You may also visit our website at http://mda.maryland.gov/plant-pests/Pages/forest_pest_management.aspx

Submitted by:

Sarah “Sally” H. Cannon

Regional Entomologist

Maryland Dept. of Agriculture

Forest Pest Management

3 Pershing Street, Suite 110

Cumberland, MD 21502

(301)777-3601

February 2021