Travis County Commissioners Court
March 21, 2006
Item 4
4. Receive update and take appropriate action regarding the asian gypsy moth in Travis County. We did discuss this item at length last week. And indicated that we were leaning in a certain direction and because of that, john kuhl prepared a letter, draft letter for us to share with mr. Nash today. And to send to the federal officials. Mr. Nash, have you had a chance to see that letter?
>> yes, sir, I have.
>> do you believe that will get the job done for us?
>> I was going to give a brief update to the court. We received concurrence to use the usda authority to conduct the treatments in Travis County this morning at 7:00 a.m. The decision was reached based on the biology of the pest to use mating disruption as the primary tool for the treatment program. We will also continue to use mass trapping around sensitive areas.
>> I’m sorry. You lost me. You -- can you back up just a little bit. You say you contacted the -- the federal folks and what transpired?
>> they contacted us this morning. And grant us the authority to go ahead and conduct the treatment. That based on the biology of gypsy moth at this time in Travis County, the recommended tool to use is mating disruption.
>> which is what we said we preferred last time.
>> okay.
>> and we tried -- is there a certain period that you could try mating disruption, figure out if it's effective, you trap them --
>> no, mating disruption we are predicting sometime between April 9th and 23rd, we would like to go back and run more computer modeling based on the actual temperatures including the colder weather this weefnlght we will be -- this week. We will be able to come back next week and hopefully give you a further date. We are still required to notify all of the residents in advance of the treatment. It will be the one application of mating digs ruption. Our best -- disruption. Our best guess is no later than April 9th, no later than April 23rd.
>> for me, could you basically describe again for those folks that make just looking at us today, never -- what is mating disruption when you are dealing with the gypsy moths?
>> make iting disruption is a female gypsy month pheremone, the best way to describe it, it's a perfume that the female uses to attract the male so mating can take place. The intent is to saturate the area with the perfume of the female moth, so the male cannot find the female to conduct mating.
>> how is that saturation done?
>> done by airplane, it will be a single application by air of the mating disruption compound.
>> I did get a couple of e-mails from people who had health issues. Should they be concerned about the application of the perfume?
>> we will provide them with the same notification we would with bt, preferably 45 days minimum in advance, recommending that people stay indoors. People that feel they may be overly sensitive of course will be -- they can leave the area. It's important to note that mating disruption does not have any insecticidal properties, it does not kill insects of any kind. It simply confuses the mating process of a gypsy moth.
>> what's the difference with this and the other application, what's the difference --
>> the bt is a biological insecticide that actually attacks the caterpillars of the dwip see moth and others that we discussed at length last week. That actually does cause fatality in the caterpillars, the mating disruption simply confuses the male. It does not cause fatality in insects.
>> can you predict exactly, I’m going to move on, but can you predict exactly when we will be able to see results after the application is applied if the court decides to support this -- this particular procedure?
>> right. With either product, either the bt or the mating disruption, we will still need to do a limiting survey over 78 square miles of this area with the trapping to determine whether or not the treatment was effective. So we will know probably by mid September.
>> by when? Mid September.
>> adult flight right now we are projecting to start in federal may. Traditionally we leave the traps out until the first of September.
>> okay thank you.
>> we need it back on next week to give you an opportunity to give us a status report?
>> if you would like us to come back next week, we can provide you with an interim update. It would probably be better to go a week after that, I think we would have a firmer date of the week of application at that time.
>> move that we approve john's letter and approve the mating disruption treatment, have this item back on two weeks from today. Discussion?
>> yes, judge. I have some comments -- [indiscernible]
>> okay.
>> I was here last week, was speaking in opposition to the treatment of this gypsy moth they --
>> could you state your name, please.
>> I’m sorry, I’m laurie york, an attorney here in town.
>> okay.
>> I was opposed to treatment with the btk last week and while I have some doubts about the -- about the presence of an infestation here, I do not oppose the treatment with the mating disruption agent. Mr. Nash and I have spoken about this agent and this was the people that I talked to who had concerns, this addresses those concerns and -- I am pleased that this was --
>> so you are in support of what's being recommended here today?
>> I do not oppose it.
>> you do not oppose it. Okay.
>> so my comments address some of that, I think the science on whether there's an infestation or not is questionable. I was unable to get a copy of the science panel review, but I did enclose in your copy a draft copy that you was able to obtain. I have a [indiscernible] in on the final copy. I don't know whether there really was a final copy or not. That report addresses uncertainty about whether there was an infestation here in Travis County and it also addresses some concerns with the d.n.a. Analysis showing it was an asian gypsy moth. They said in the future they would like more alleles to be looked at. They were uncomfortable calling it an asian gypsy moth. I guess it was in some sort a hybrid, but anyway our concerns are addressed.
>> I left you -- I left here last week thinking that residents were asking for one of the alternative treatments, specifically.
>> this one.
>> mating disruption.
>> okay. Any more discussion of the motion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
>> thank you.
>> we will see knew two weeks, mr. Nash.
>> thank you.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, March 22, 2006 7:57 AM