Gypsy Moth Continues Its Destruction

The Gypsy Moth caterpillar cut a wide-swath of destruction through some midwestern states this year. The caterpillar has been called one of the most destructive hardwood forest insect pests in the U.S. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Natalie Walston reports:

Transcript

The gypsy moth caterpillar cut a wide-swath of destruction through some Great Lakes states this year. The caterpillar has been called one of the most destructive hardwood forest insect pests in the United States. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Natalie Walston reports.


Agriculture officials in Great Lakes states have tried a variety of chemical methods to stop the spread of the gypsy moth. Still, it’s estimated the gypsy moth caterpillar destroyed a record forty-two thousand acres of trees in Ohio alone this year. The Ohio Department of Agriculture says that number has doubled from last year. Agriculture officials in New York State say the gypsy moth caterpillar feasted on fifty thousand trees this year. That’s compared to twenty-seven thousand last year. But, the state of Michigan got a break. Michigan Department of Natural Resources entomologist, Frank Sapio says the insects died from a virus before they could destroy trees, and he says the DNR released a natural fungus that worked with the virus to kill the caterpillars. Last year, though, the caterpillars were blamed for eating ninety-seven thousand acres of tree leaves in Michigan.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Natalie Walston.

Forest Service Sued Over Aspen Logging

The Sierra Club is suing the U.S. Forest Service to block logging of aspen in national forests in three Great Lakes states. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports:

Transcript

The Sierra Club is suing the U.S. Forest Service to block logging of aspen on national forests in three Great Lakes states. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports.


The lawsuit asks a federal court to force the Forest Service to stop cutting aspen on its land in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The Sierra Club’s Anne Woiwode says the Forest Service favors aspen production at the expense of a healthy forest, and a healthy economy.


“When they choose to keep aspen at very high levels, they choose not to bring back forests that may be of greater economic value, may actually produce many more jobs than aspen does for the amount of wood produced.”


Woiwode says clear cutting aspen prevents white pine and hardwood forests from growing back.


The Forest Service says it manages forests for a variety of types and ages of trees, and doesn’t try to encourage aspen where it would not grow naturally.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Stephanie Hemphill in Duluth.